But after last week’s 7-0 mauling at the Nou Camp, Neville faces a second leg where his side must pull off an unthinkable comeback and scrutiny has returned to his league form – where Valencia are now just four points above the drop.
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Next up for Neville’s side is the return leg against Barca on Wednesday, before the search for a maiden league win continues with the visit of Espanyol at the weekend.
Supporters have called for Neville to stand down but the former Manchester United defender believes the team can turn things around and he is determined to make the fans happy.
“From my point of view, I want to give them what they want”.
‘It has to turn around on Saturday.
Neville is focusing on that home league fixture rather than the midweek encounter against Barca because his team are effectively already out of that cup tie having been thrashed 7-0 in last week’s disastrous first leg.
“At this moment in time the results are obviously testing, they create moments where you want it to turn around so desperately for them (fans)”.
“I want to make sure that I’m talking about football today”.
“I know when we play games like that it can turn around very quick”, Neville said.
With a spot all but secured in the Copa del Rey final for the third straight season, Barcelona’s main goal will be to keep its unbeaten streak alive and break the club’s record.
“We have prepared for the match in the same way as if we didn’t have the result of the first leg”, Luis Enrique told a news conference on Tuesday.
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Andres Iniesta, Dani Alves, Gerard Pique and Javier Mascherano are all also rested, with arguably only Ivan Rakitic of Enrique’s preferred first XI in line to face Los Che. “We forget about the first leg result”.
