Gattuso to Coach Valencia for Next 2 Seasons

Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso gestures during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Fiorentina and Napoli at the Artemio Franchi stadium in Florence, Italy, May 16, 2021. (LaPresse via AP)
Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso gestures during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Fiorentina and Napoli at the Artemio Franchi stadium in Florence, Italy, May 16, 2021. (LaPresse via AP)
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Gattuso to Coach Valencia for Next 2 Seasons

Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso gestures during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Fiorentina and Napoli at the Artemio Franchi stadium in Florence, Italy, May 16, 2021. (LaPresse via AP)
Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso gestures during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Fiorentina and Napoli at the Artemio Franchi stadium in Florence, Italy, May 16, 2021. (LaPresse via AP)

Italian coach Gennaro Gattuso agreed to take charge of Spanish club Valencia on Thursday for the next two seasons.

The 44-year-old Gattuso replaced José Bordalás after he was fired last week despite having led Valencia to the Copa del Rey final in his single season in charge, The Associated Press said.

Gattuso is a former defensive midfielder who helped Italy win the 2006 World Cup and AC Milan win two Champions League titles. He has since had a coaching career in Italy, where he managed Milan and Napoli. His Napoli won the 2020 Italian Cup.

Gattuso arrives at a difficult time for the club based on Spain's eastern coast.

Valencia finished ninth in the Spanish league last season. The firing of Bordalás came a day after the club removed president Anil Murthy from his post following the leak of private conversations that made the club’s leadership look bad.

Large sectors of Valencia’s fans are angry with Singaporean owner Peter Lim for selling off its best players in recent seasons. Its supporters are hoping team leaders Carlos Soler and Goncalo Guedes stay put this offseason.



Barcelona Reaches Copa Del Rey Quarterfinals. Atletico Also Advances

Barcelona's Gavi gestures during a Spanish Copa del Rey round of 16 soccer match between Barcelona and Real Betis at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Barcelona's Gavi gestures during a Spanish Copa del Rey round of 16 soccer match between Barcelona and Real Betis at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
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Barcelona Reaches Copa Del Rey Quarterfinals. Atletico Also Advances

Barcelona's Gavi gestures during a Spanish Copa del Rey round of 16 soccer match between Barcelona and Real Betis at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Barcelona's Gavi gestures during a Spanish Copa del Rey round of 16 soccer match between Barcelona and Real Betis at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona followed up its rout of Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final with a comfortable 5-1 victory over Real Betis in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday.
Gavi and Jules Koundé scored a goal each in the first half-hour and Raphinha, Ferran Torres and Lamine Yamal added to the lead in the second half to give the Catalan club the win and a spot in the quarterfinals.
It was the fourth straight victory in 2025 for Barcelona, which on Sunday defeated Madrid 5-2 in Saudi Arabia to win the Spanish Super Cup.
“We wanted to keep the momentum from the Super Cup here at home in front of our fans,” Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsí said. “We continue like this and keep the foot on the throttle. The (Christmas) break did well for us, we were able to refresh.”
Barcelona had lost its last two games in 2024 before going on a winning streak against Barbastro in the Copa del Rey and Athletic Bilbao and Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup.
Playmaker Dani Olmo, registered in the last minute after a long battle between Barcelona, the Spanish league and Spain's federation because of a missed deadline by the club, helped set up Gavi's opening goal in the third minute at Montjuic stadium. Yamal gave the pass for Koundé's goal in the 27th.
Koundé thought he had added to the lead in first-half stoppage time but his effort was disallowed by video review because he was offside. Yamal also had one called back by the VAR because of offside early in the second half.
Barcelona's third goal finally counted when Raphinha found the net in a breakaway in the 58th. Torres scored the fourth from inside the area in the 67th, a few minutes after coming off the bench, and Yamal sealed it after a nice run in the 75th.
Vitor Roque scored Betis' lone goal by converting an 84th-minute penalty kick.
Atletico Madrid, playing without many regular starters, routed second-division club Elche 4-0 to extend its record winning streak to 15 matches.
The club had never won more than 13 games in a row across all competitions before.
Alexander Sorloth scored from close range in the eighth and converted a 29th-minute penalty kick. Rodrigo Riquelme scored the third from long range in the 61st, and Julián Álvarez closed the scoring in the 75th.
Elche played a man down from the 50th after Nicolás Fernández was sent off with a second yellow card.
Other results Álvaro Rodríguez scored two minutes into the match as Getafe won 1-0 at fourth-division club Pontevedra.
The visitors played a man down from the 41st after a straight red card was shown to Rodríguez.
An 86th-minute goal by Diego García gave Leganes a 3-2 win at second-division club Almeria.
In other round-of-16 matches on Thursday, defending champion Athletic Bilbao hosts Osasuna and Real Madrid welcomes Celta Vigo.