Manager is navigating plenty of turbulence as his side secured first victory since April against Girona

Valencia’s league started six weeks late but at least it was with a win – and a win, coach Rubén Baraja said, “changes everything”. Sometimes all it takes is the smallest, silliest thing, a little luck for there to be life, an explosion: two second-half minutes, two long shots, two deflections, Juanpe in the way, the ball spinning off the defender’s legs into the net, and Mestalla was liberated, if only for a little while.

On Saturday evening goals from Luis Rioja and Dani Gómez defeated Girona, pulled Valencia off the floor and put 40,896 people on their feet. “I wanted to see them smile again,” Baraja said.