Celades and López meet virtually ahead of Friday's derby

Before a Valencian derby it is customary for the Valencia CF and Levante UD coaches to meet, pose for a photo and demonstrate that the good-natured rivalry between the two clubs has a friendly unity behind it. Whilst social distancing measures have changed the way of doing so many things surrounding football, Albert Celades and opposite number Paco López were able to greet one another using modern technology on Wednesday morning.

Below is the conversation between the two coaches:

Celades: Hello Paco, how are you? It's nice to see you.

López: How are you Albert? I'm doing well.

Celades: We're living with this uncertainty about our day-to-day life. We have to adapt to the situation and see what will happen, but we have the utmost disposition to do so.

López: Right. I think that amongst us all we need to get people in Valencia excited. On the pitch we are going to be playing one another and it will be a derby, albeit with the backdrop of this situation that we all have to deal with. We need to cheer people up and get them excited about football again.”

Celades: Undoubtedly. I think that coming back like this, with a derby, is all the better. There are all of these people who have had such a bad time, and who continue to have difficulties, and we'll see if we can give them some happiness through seeing their team play again. That would be very welcome. I hope that, little-by-little, we can get closer to normality. We'd all like to be playing in front of the fans, and we hope that this is the case soon.

López: Definitely. Although they can't enjoy the game from the stadium yet, I hope that they enjoy it at home and get excited about football again. They will get to see their team again, and a derby played in a sporting way -with the respect that there always is between the two sides.

Celades: We'll see each other on Friday. There won't be any hug, but I suppose we'll touch elbows.

López: Of course!

Celades: It's going to be a joy to see you again out there.

López: Likewise, Albert.

Celades: Paco, I'm going to hand over one of our shirts so that you have a souvenir from this game.

López: Thank you very much, Albert. I think that this is a gesture of unity between all Valencians and between the two fanbases. Albert, here is our shirt. Once again, there is a lot of sportsmanship in this game. This is another shirt that shows the connection between both clubs.

Celades: Thank you very much Paco. I'm very grateful for the gift. As the slogan goes, I hope that we 'lift Valencia up' for both sets of fans, and that both can enjoy watching their team again.