Local hero Albelda builds his new Valencia dream

Third, second and, according to the Anfield mantra, this year Liverpool will finish first. What would it mean to a local lad like Steven Gerrard to get his hands on the Premiership trophy following a period of relative blight on Merseyside? Now imagine what it must feel like when you have ended a 31-year wait to be crowned kings of your country.

Valencia, who meet Liverpool in the Champions' League on Tuesday, satisfied their long yearning for a league title last May, a year after their second successive appearance in a European Cup final. To their own Steven Gerrard, it felt like a triumph of the unexpected.

"I didn't even think we could win the league, but Valencia have gone through big changes over the last few years," said Valencia's No 6, David Albelda. "When I was a youth-team player, the objective each season was just to make the Uefa Cup."

Like Gerrard, Albelda is a hometown boy: "You feel very identified with the club if you're from the city itself, so, obviously, winning trophies at the club where you've spent all of your life is something special."

The likeable international midfield enforcer is a man whose beaming smile belies a rugged attitude on the pitch. Howls of protest from the Madrid press followedhis shackling of a subdued Zinedine Zidane on the Frenchman's debut in last season's opening-day 1-0 win.

Albelda insisted there would be no man-marking job on Tuesday, nor is the coach, Rafa Benitez, likely to opt for individual-marking jobs, insisting the Valencian values of all-round defensive duties and "battling qualities" which have taken the side from strength to strength would persist. If Valencia are going to make it to a third European Cup final in four years it would prove a remarkable achievement in modern football, given the Mediterranean club's size and budgetary restrictions (the outstanding Roberto Ayala is still waiting for his promised pay rise).

The main doubts about their potential come from their scoring record. Last season's 49 goals represent the lowest ever total scored by a Spanish title-winning team and the least scored by a champion team in a European league. Little wonder that Benitez felt that he needed a top-notch striker, a request which was turned down in a summer of no transfer activity on the Valencian coast.

Albelda's midfield partner Ruben Baraja was their top scorer with seven goals, despite missing almost half the season injured. Benitez tried 11 front-pairings last season, before settling on Argentinian international link-man Pablo Aimar behind a lone striker. But the last time one of their centre-forwards scored was last April. On the evidence of last Wednesday's impotent display in the first round of the Spanish Cup at Third Division Gimnastica Tarragona, where Valencia failed to find the net in 120 minutes of football, Messrs Hyypia and Henchoz are unlikely to lose much sleep at the prospect of a Mary Poppins attack. "It's true that we won the league without a recognised goalscorer, but we had the best away record," said Albelda.

The meeting with Liverpool reminds the 24-year-old of the Uefa Cup clash of four years ago – when the Reds won on away goals after two draws – which he watched as a youth player. What made the biggest impression was Anfield itself and its "phenomenal pitch".

"One thing is clear," he said. "The atmosphere at English grounds is the best in Europe. Once you've witnessed it you feel like bringing it back here to show your own fans."

Who do Valencia fear? Albelda pointed to Owen and Heskey, to Hamman and Gerrard and the defence, but stressed that although Liverpool have great players, like Valencia, the team ethic is the key. "I've seen Gerrard against Barcelona, he's very strong, good in the air and on the ground, a player any big club would want.

"We're capable of taking on both defensive and more attacking sides. We're accustomed to having to break down teams that come to Mestalla to defend. It's always difficult to score against the top sides but we'll be taking the initiative."

The irrepressible Albelda tipped Manchester United, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich as the teams to watch. But he left with a grin, a "see you in Manchester in May" look and a wink.