Valencia and Celta Vigo played out a 0-0 draw at Mestalla in the second round of La Liga on 22 August 2026. The match stayed cagey from the opening whistle, with both sides showing more caution than ambition. To be fair, neither side looked particularly dangerous in the final third.
The first yellow card came in the 38th minute when Justin De Haas went into a challenge a bit heavy-footed. A minute later Stole Dimitrievski picked up a booking for a late tackle. Valencia made a change at the break, bringing on J. De Haas for the injured Justin De Haas.
Celta pushed forward after the restart but found themselves chasing shadows. Sergio Carreira went into a challenge with too much force in the 57th minute and paid the price with a yellow card. The visitors made three changes around that same mark, bringing on R. Sato, H. Alvarez and J. El Abdellaoui.
Valencia's Javier Rueda then picked up a caution in the 67th minute for a cynical foul. By then the game had settled into a rhythm of midfield battles rather than clear-cut chances. Both keepers made a handful of saves, but nothing demanded a miracle.
Looking at the numbers, Valencia had 44% possession but managed only two shots on target from four attempts. Celta dominated the ball with 56% possession and created slightly more, registering three shots on target from seven attempts. Expected goals sat at 0.7 for Valencia and 0.62 for Celta — both sides created little of real note.
The draw leaves Valencia third from bottom with just one point from three games, while Celta sit 16th on two points from four outings. Neither side has found a winning formula yet this season.