Valencia’s first game after the floods gave the city an emotional release

VALENCIA, Spain — Cesar Tarrega doesn’t score many goals, but he knew exactly how he would celebrate when he gave Valencia the lead against Real Betis. The center back pulled away and grabbed a T-shirt that said, “We’ll get through this together.”

That message has spread throughout Spanish football since devastating floods hit Valencia and surrounding areas in late October, killing 221 people. That was the message at the Mestalla on Saturday as, after three games postponed, Valencia finally made an emotional return to La Liga.

It was the club’s first match since a year’s worth of rain hit the region in just eight hours on October 29, causing flash floods in many towns and villages. It was Valencia’s first home game since 21 October. It was also their first win since September 21, but it was an occasion that was worth more than three points as football became a means of remembering the flood victims.

Tárrega was one of many in the stadium brought to tears by the respect shown by the club before the game. The 22-year-old’s family home in Aldaya, east of Valencia, was among those flooded. Since then, the lives of his friends and family have been turned upside down. It will take months, if not longer, to repair the damage done to Aldaya and many other cities like it. It was fitting that he scored the first goal.

Betis briefly equalized the score, and Valencia striker Hugo Duro turned the ball into his own net from Aitor Ruibal’s free kick. Ruibal began to celebrate but quickly apologized to the fans and instead headed to the bench to grab the Valencian Community flag. He held it together with teammate Marc Bartra; then he apologized again.

Duro, meanwhile, made amends with two quick second-half goals as Valencia won 4-2, lifting themselves off the table with their second win of the campaign. It capped a rollercoaster day for the striker, who was another man overcome with emotion in the emotional moments before the game, as were Tárrega and many fans in the 43,000 crowd.

“I knew I was going to cry,” Duro told reporters after the match. “The last few weeks have been difficult for Valencia and there is still a lot of work ahead. It’s hard to see the city for what it is, but the respect was incredible and I think the performance lived up to the occasion.

“I’m one of those people who cries easily. It’s hard to experience all this personally, because it’s as if there was a war going on here. Since I found out what the tribute would be, I knew I would cry. During the team conversation, I was already holding back tears. We wanted to do justice with the win, but the points were secondary today.”

With the city’s metro still out of service and many people’s cars washed away, Valencia delayed buses to Mestalla for supporters in affected areas. They also promised to donate all proceeds from the matches to support and rebuild the most affected towns and villages. Owner Peter Lim said he would personally match the figure.

Before the match the giant Senera — the region’s flag — covered the playing surface as two groups of players emerged from the tunnel to the song “Voices of Valencia“, carrying a giant black memorial symbol onto the field.

Then the regional anthem was played and a huge tifo was unveiled with the names of the affected towns and villages. It was at this moment and in the minute of silence that followed that some of the Valencia players, dressed in black instead of the usual white as a sign of respect, were visibly affected by the event.

It was a grueling month for them and a testing time for Spanish football. On November 2, Valencia was scheduled to host Real Madrid. Instead, Mestalla was used as a temporary warehouse for humanitarian aid. It was one of six games canceled that weekend across the country’s top two divisions, including matches involving Villarreal and Levante.

Many felt that this was not enough. These were the clubs that were directly involved, but almost every team had players and staff with direct or indirect connections to the region. The hometown of Osasuna coach Vicente Moreno Massanassa was one of the flooded ones. He led his team on Saturday and returned home on Sunday, shovel in hand, to help with the cleanup.

Barça’s Ferran Torres, a native of Valencia, currently injured, announced that he was unable to attend his team’s derby against Espanyol. Miguel Gutierrez from Girona dedicated his goal to a friend whose mother had disappeared. The list goes on. Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone said there was no point in continuing football.

La Liga president Javier Tebas said the game continued to draw attention to the disaster. Television programs displayed a telephone number on the screen through which viewers, in cooperation with the Red Cross, could donate money to help victims. Clubs all over Spain took part. Real Madrid donated 1 million euros. Castellon raised 410,000 euros. Real Betis gave 100,000 euros.

At a lower level, the destruction was much greater. The grounds of clubs such as seventh division club Paiport have been completely destroyed by the floods.

Meanwhile, Valencia’s Copa del Rey match against Parla Escuela has also been postponed and the November 9 trip to Espanyol has also been postponed. However, other clubs in the region have begun to return to play. Villarreal did it in black. Levante, also based in the city of Valencia, did so in a special shirt covered in a mud effect to reflect the catastrophic images that can be seen as the murky water recedes, revealing piles of wrecked cars and impossibly tall watermarks on buildings.

On Saturday it was Valencia’s turn. Arrigo Sacchi said that football is the most important of the least important things, but it is also often connected in one way or another with the most important things. This was certainly the case at Mestalla, as football became a platform for unity, support and respect.

“I believe that these difficult moments that we have experienced have made us see that together we can make a difference and try to help people rebuild their lives,” Valencia coach Ruben Baraja said in his post-match press conference. “We must work hard so that people can live normal lives again.

“Today was probably the most emotional moment I’ve had in football, definitely one of them. The emotions, the atmosphere, the respect that Mestalla showed gave me goosebumps. The victory is dedicated to all the victims and to all those affected, we want them to know that their club will help them and support them in rebuilding (towns and villages).”

And perhaps it was just a small detail in the grand scheme of things, but there could not have been a more suitable debut goalscorer than Tárrega.

“Cesar is one of those who was very close to this tragedy,” Diego Lopez, the scorer of the fourth goal, told reporters.

“He comes from the areas that were hit the hardest. He deserved this goal. He suffered a lot and there is no better reward for him than to score a goal and dedicate it to all the people of Valencia and his hometown. I’m happy for him.”