Corberán sacked by Valencia after worst start in club history leaves them bottom

Carlos Corberán was sacked as Valencia manager on Sunday after a 1-0 defeat at Sevilla’s Sánchez-Pizjuán condemned the club to the worst start in its history, leaving them bottom of La Liga with a single point from five matches. It is the first managerial dismissal of the La Liga season.

Corberán learned of his fate during a video call, with owner Peter Lim delivering the news from Singapore, some 10,000km away. The Spaniard had joined in December 2024 with Valencia in the relegation zone, hauled them up to 12th and steered them to the fringes of European qualification — earning a contract extension just two months before his dismissal.

CEO Ron Gourlay and his entire backroom staff were also let go, just ten days after Gourlay publicly championed stability and continuity at a two-hour press conference. Braulio Vázquez has arrived from Osasuna to lead the search for a permanent coach, while B-team manager Óscar Sánchez has been placed in interim charge. The club framed the overhaul as a restructuring and the beginning of a “new era.”

The scale of Valencia’s collapse this season has been stark. Nine goals conceded and only one scored across five games tells part of the story; the 5-0 home defeat by Barcelona was the third occasion in four matches that opponents had put five past them. Fans have protested against owner Kiat Lim — son of Peter — with signs reading “Lim, go home,” and around 100 supporters gathered at the club’s Paterna training ground after the Sevilla loss to confront players and staff. Since Peter Lim’s takeover in 2014, Óscar Sánchez becomes the club’s 15th coach, with more than 20 players arriving and departing in the last two years alone.

The crisis drew an unlikely commentary from Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, who was caught on camera telling Barcelona team-mate Pau Cubarsí during the rout: “This lot are very weak, eh? Very weak, mate. Very bad.” He subsequently called Valencia captain José Luis Gayà to apologise and issued a public statement after Barcelona’s Champions League win over Feyenoord. Corberán described the remarks as “unfortunate” and said they had “not been born of respect,” though the assessment was widely seen as a candid reflection of Valencia’s predicament. Rodri added: “We all want Valencia to get back to where they should be, one of the best clubs in our league.”

Braulio Vázquez’s immediate priority is identifying a permanent manager, with Ernesto Valverde and Jagoba Arrasate among the candidates being discussed. Óscar Sánchez continues in caretaker charge as the restructuring takes shape.