Soler and Oyarzabal to put friendship aside on Matchday 25

Carlos Soler and Mikel Oyarzabal may be on different teams, but they have plenty in common, and both players will be on the pitch for Valencia CF's away game against Real Sociedad on Saturday.

The pair were both born in 1997, made their LaLiga breakthrough in similar fashion and have established themselves as top young talents in Spanish football.

Oyarzabal made his first team debut the earliest, in 2015, whilst Soler's bow came in San Sebastian, against the Basque player, shortly after. Since then there have been plenty of duels between the two, but they have also forged a great friendship through their time in the Spain Under-21s side together -under Valencia CF coach Albert Celades.

Soler and Oyarzabal played on opposite wings with 'La Rojita' and went from being the youngest players at the 2017 European Championships to key pieces of the 2019 side.

They are joined by Fabián -currently at SSC Napoli- in a close-knit trio of friends who met through their national team experience.

The tradition for Soler and Oyarzabal is that, after giving their all against one another on the pitch for 90 minutes, they look for one another after the final whistle to exchange shirts. Soler already has three of his friend's garments stored at his home. Their good relationship will be put on the backburner for the duration of the game, however, as both battle to earn the three points for their respective team.