Valencia coach Mauricio Pellegrino has said that he expects tomorrow's game with Malaga to be a "hotly contested" encounter between two teams vying for a top-four finish.

Los Che find themselves eighth in La Liga, but two points is all that separates them from fourth-placed Levante.

Malaga, who sit fifth, have not won in three league games and let slip a two-goal lead against Zenit St Petersburg in their midweek Champions League encounter.

"It's an important game because Malaga is a team that are going to be up there, like us," Football Espana quotes Pellegrino as saying.

"It will be a measure of our capacities, a difficult game against a team of standing, and that's what makes it interesting.

"[My] team is working well, we have a good dynamic these days. Malaga are going to be a direct rival in the league and possibly also in the Champions League. It will be a hotly contested game."

Valencia drew 1-1 with Bayern Munich on Wednesday to secure their passage to the last 16.