Valencia name Valverde as new coach

Valencia have agreed to appoint Ernesto Valverde to replace Mauricio Pellegrino as their new coach until the end of the season, the Spanish club said on Monday.

The 48-year-old Spaniard will be presented later in the day (1945 GMT). Pellegrino was sacked on Saturday after a 5-2 home defeat to Real Sociedad left the side 12th in La Liga.

Valverde led Olympiakos Piraeus to a Greek league and Cup double last season and has extensive experience in La Liga.

He has worked with Athletic Bilbao and Espanyol, who he guided to the UEFA Cup final in 2007 where they lost to Sevilla.

A first spell with Olympiakos yielded a league and Cup double in 2009 and, after a failed six-month spell with Villarreal in the following year, he returned to Greece to win another league title before last season's repeat double.

His first game at the helm will be in the Champions League away at Lille on Wednesday.

Valencia, who are already qualified for the last 16, have a chance to finish top of Group F ahead of Bayern Munich if they can earn more points than last year's finalists.

Photograph: Oleg Popov/Reuters