LaLiga club Valencia fired coach Ruben Baraja on Monday.

Sunday’s 2-2 draw against Alavés left Valencia in second-to-last place in LaLiga with just two wins and nine defeats from 17 games.

A club statement said: “Valencia CF has decided to end Ruben Baraja’s tenure as first team coach. The club would like to publicly thank Baraja for the passion, dedication and commitment he has shown from day one to the last of his term in charge.

Baraja, a legendary player for the club, took over the team in February 2023 and led them to ninth place last season.

“The dynamics of results this season required a decision that was very difficult to take, but was made with the aim of changing the situation and achieving better results,” the statement continued.

The club has not yet announced who will succeed Baraja.

Baraja’s departure deepens Valencia’s crisis as fans have been calling for owner Peter Lim to sell the club for years.

The Singapore businessman acquired the then heavily indebted Valencia in 2014, but did not enjoy much popularity as the club was regularly forced to sell its top players to reduce the club’s heavy debts, while failing to make any significant signings to strengthen the squad carried out.

In January, the club is expected to resume work on the Nou Mestalla Stadium, which was among the commitments Lim made when he took control a decade ago.

The failure to complete the new stadium prompted the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to announce that Valencia would not host the 2030 World Cup, despite being Spain’s third largest city.

Valencia hosts Real Madrid on January 3rd.