Saint-Denis to the Mestalla bogey: when Valencia were the third giant of Spanish football

Real Madrid versus Valencia is the fixture that bookended a five-year window in which Spanish football briefly had three superpowers. Between 1999 and 2004, Valencia CF were Madrid's most awkward domestic opponent — two Champions League finals at the turn of the century, two La Liga titles under Héctor Cúper and Rafael Benítez, and a UEFA Cup. They are still the only club other than Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid to win La Liga this century. Mestalla, opened in 1923, has remembered that period longer than the league table has.