Valencia 1 - Real Madrid 5

Valencia: Hildebrand; Miguel, Iván Helguera, Raúl Albiol, Moretti; Joaquín, Albelda; David Silva (Montoro 81'), Gavilán (Vicente 59'); Angulo (Mata 76'), Morientes. 4-4-2.
Madrid: Casillas; Sergio Ramos (Miguel Torres 72'), Cannavaro, Metzelder, Marcelo (Heinze 56'); Guti, Gago, Diarra, Robinho; Raúl, Van Nistelrooy (Baptista 65'). 4-4-2.

Team changes: Valencia: Miguel, Iván Helguera, David Silva, Gavilán, Morientes for Caneira, Marchena, Baraja, Arizmendi, Zigic / Madrid: Cannavaro, Diarra, Raúl for Michel Salgado, Higuaín, Saviola.

Goals:
0-1. 01. Raúl. Long shot in off post after picking up Robinho square pass.
0-2. 24. Van Nistelrooy. Ran on to Raúl pass and lobbed ball over Hildebrand.
0-3. 29. Sergio Ramos. Took Guti pass and struck angled shot in off far post.
0-4. 35. Van Nistelrooy. Turned ball in after Robinho played across Guti pass.
1-4. 58. Angulo. Controlled pass from Joaquín and drove shot past Casillas.
1-5. 64. Robinho. Took Gago pass and beat defender to score with angled shot.

Real Madrid beat manager-less Valencia 1-5 to extend their lead at the top, the biggest scoreline they have recorded at the Mestalla stadium in their league history. Bernd Schuster said in a pre-match interview that he wanted his side to win like Roger Federer, and in the end they only fell short of a "set" by one goal!

Raúl started things off with a low shot in off the post with only 45 seconds on the clock, and by half time they had added three more, with Van Nistelrooy getting the second midway through the first half after running on to Raúl's headed pass to lob Hildebrand. Sergio Ramos fired in a third with a powerful shot in off the far post after Guti put him through, and Van Nistelrooy got his second of the night after an impressive first time passing move with Guti and Robinho ten minutes before the break.

It could have been more though, with Hildebrand saving a couple of efforts from Van Nistelrooy, Metzelder missing a sitter and Helguera clearing from Raúl as he closed in on goal. Before Pérez Burrull had blown the half time whistle the fans started the leave, and caretaker coach Oscar Fernández was at a loss what to do. Angulo did get one back soon after the restart though after Joaquín passed in from the right, and Casillas had to be on his toes to turn a shot from Morientes for a corner.

A few minutes later though Robinho got the fifth of the night after picking up a pass from Gago, and after Casillas kept out Angulo and Helguera, Valencia's Halloween nightmare continued with a red card for Raúl Albiol after he brought down Robinho.

With Quique Flores no longer there to take the brunt of the criticism, the fans turned on club president Juan Soler, and he announced later that Ronald Koeman would be their new manager (apparently after Mourinho, Capello, Lippi and Scolari had turned them down). It's not all that bad, Valencia are still in the UEFA Cup spots and a couple of good results in the Champions League should still see them through, but the ex PSV boss needs to settle in quickly to ensure things don't get worse. The Mestalla crowd are not easy to please.