It was only fitting that Valencia’s Dani Parejo finished the season with his first major honour in club football.
Parejo was part of Valencia’s starting lineup as they achieved a memorable 2-1 win over Barcelona on May 25th.
Up until then, Parejo’s only winners’ medals in football came from his Spanish exploits at the 2007 U-19 European Championship and the 2011 U-21 European Championship.
The 30-year-old Spanish playmaker joined Valencia from Getafe back in 2011 and now wears the team’s number 10 jersey.
Parejo enjoyed one of his best ever campaigns in 2018/19 with Valencia as he revelled in his attacking midfield role under Marcelino.
He won his first Spanish senior cap just last year and will be hoping to feature regularly now and in the immediate future if he can maintain such impressive form for Valencia in LaLiga.
Parejo started 35 of Valencia’s 38 league games this season. He contributed 9 goals and 7 assists as he helped Valencia to a Champions League qualification spot by finishing fourth in LaLiga.
Valencia had to hold off the challenges of Getafe and Sevilla for their top-four finish. They ended up just seven points behind third-placed Real Madrid.
It means that Valencia has now finished fourth in both seasons where Marcelino has been in charge of the side so far.
Parejo cost 8.5 million in fantasy LaLiga this season and finished with a total of 67 points. He was the second-highest scoring midfielder, behind only Sevilla’s Pablo Sarabia who had 87 points.
It was a case of slow and steady wins the race throughout the campaign as Parejo accumulated his impressive points tally. His highest fantasy LaLiga score in one game was 6 points which he managed twice.
The first time was in Valencia’s 1-0 win at Getafe when Parejo’s goal was the difference between the sides.
Then he was also given 6 points when his side won 1-0 away to Sevilla and again Parejo was the scorer of the all-important goal.
The fact that his two best fantasy LaLiga scores came in his team’s away wins to their closest challengers for that Champions League spot shows just how vital Parejo was to Valencia’s season as a whole.
Parejo’s consistency can be seen through how he only finished a game with a minus-points total twice all season. That is a fantastic achievement. Those two games were:
- Valencia’s 1-1 draw at home to Barcelona (Parejo was booked and received -1 point)
- Their 2-0 defeat at Rayo Vallecano (Parejo missed a penalty finishing on -2 points for the game)
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