Levant Athletic go to the Ciutat de Valencia on Tuesday at 21:00 in a meeting that looks balanced on paper and uneasy on the pitch. Levante have turned their ground into a problem for visitors, while Athletic arrive with enough recent evidence there to believe they can compete again.
The reason the match is drawing attention now is simple: both sides bring current form that points in opposite directions. Levante won seven and drew one of their last eight home matches before Barça visited, and they have already shown their edge this season by beating Betis 5-2 at home. Athletic, meanwhile, have taken three wins and two draws from their five most recent visits to the Ciutat de Valencia, including a game last season in which they led 0-2 at half-time and held that advantage after the break.
That history gives Tuesday’s game its weight. Levante stayed up last season largely because of what they did at home, and that same setting has remained part of their strength. Athletic’s away record last season was a different story: they were the fifth worst team away from home, behind Elche, Osasuna, Mallorca and Oviedo. Against that backdrop, the trip to the Ciutat de Valencia is less about reputation than about whether Athletic can bring the good image they showed at Balaídos into a full 90 minutes.
Terzic also has one useful piece of news. Iñaki Williams is available, and the coach said he has provided important things in recent matches. That matters for a side that drew against Elche this week and repeated the same starting eleven for the first time in the league, a decision that did not produce the result they wanted. Terzic was blunt about the limits of that approach: repeating a lineup does not guarantee a good result, and changing it does not guarantee one either.
That leaves the match where it started, on a thin line between two teams with reasons to believe. Levante have made the Ciutat de Valencia a place that punishes hesitation. Athletic have already shown they can unsettle them there. Tuesday should tell which of those truths matters more now.
