Valencia lose 1-3 to Angolan champions Petro de Luanda in first preseason test

Published Jul 21, 03:01 AM UTC

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Valencia CF concluded their first preseason training camp of the 2026-27 season in Girona with a 1-3 loss to Petro de Luanda, the reigning Angolan champions. The friendly, held behind closed doors at the Royalverd Training Center, served as the team's first competitive test under coach Carlos Corberán. Nigerian striker Umar Sadiq scored Valencia's only goal, while Tiago Reis, Vanilson, and former Valencia player Hélder Costa scored for the visitors. The club officially considered the session a training match, not a friendly, and no broadcast or media report was provided. Pepelu missed a penalty during the match. Valencia will now train at Paterna and play friendlies against CD Eldense on July 22 and CD Castellón on July 25, before a planned camp in England. The team's preseason schedule was adjusted due to La Liga starting a week later than usual, with three matches in seven days early in the season.

Source report

Updated: 19/07/2026 - 21:28 CEST By: Fernando Álvarez

Valencia concluded its first training camp of the 2026-27 preseason on Saturday with a 1-3 defeat against Petro de Luanda, the reigning champion of the Angolan First Division. The friendly, played behind closed doors at the Royalverd Training Center in Girona, served as the first competitive test of the summer for the team led by Carlos Corberán.

The Valencian expedition began its return after a week of work at the sports complex located in the La Garrotxa region, within the Natural Reserve of the Volcanic Zone of Girona — the venue chosen by the club for the first stage of preseason preparation.

Match Highlights

Umar Sadiq scored the only Valencian goal, marking his debut goal of the preseason.
Tiago Reis opened the scoring for Petro de Luanda before halftime.
Vanilson made it 0-2 in the second half.
Former Valencia player Hélder Costa sealed the result with the final 1-3.
According to Fútbol Fantasy, Pepelu had a penalty kick that he failed to convert.

The session — officially considered by the club as a training session rather than a friendly — had no television broadcast or subsequent report from official media, so few details of the match's development emerged.

Upcoming Preseason Schedule

After finishing the stay in Girona, Valencia will resume training at the Paterna sports city. The preseason roadmap includes two new friendly matches at the Estadio Antonio Puchades:

July 22 — vs. CD Eldense
July 25 — vs. CD Castellón

A subsequent training camp is planned in England.

Note on Season Preparation

Valencia has significantly altered its summer preparation plan considering that the League does not start on the weekend of August 15, but a week later. As a result, the team will have to play three matches in seven days due to the postponement requested by Betis for matchday 1.

Content shown outside its original language is machine translated; summaries may also be condensed.

Source

LALIGA EA Sports // marcaWestern

Original headline: El Valencia pone fin a su primer stage de pretemporada con una derrota ante el Petro de Luanda

Original language: ES

Part of this Story

Valencia CF Preseason Camp Ends with Loss to Petro de Luanda

See the full Story: all sources and camp coverage

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