In the summer of 2001, Valencia appeared to be in crisis.
Having lost two Champions League finals back-to-back, failed to qualify for the Champions League, lost their star players and failed to replace them, forcing president Pedro Cortés to resign, lost coach Héctor Cuper to Internazionale and rejected by their three candidates to replace him, Valencia appeared to be on a downward slide.
Instead, under new coach Rafael Benitez, Valencia won their first La Liga title in 31 years, then won La Liga again as well as a UEFA Cup two years later. They did this using an intense pressing system that saw them nicknamed “The Crushing Machine” for the way they gave their opposition no space to breathe.
In this video, we break down that system.
Watch the video here and read more about Rafa Benitez’s Valencia here.
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