Gracia: "The team pushed hard to the end"

Valencia CF coach Javi Gracia assessed the 3-1 defeat at the hands of Atletico Madrid in his post-match press conference, and emphasised that his side gave their all at one of the toughest grounds in LaLiga to visit.

The result

“Starting the game the way we did, taking the lead, gave us that boost in morale that we needed to compete in the way that we did. We scored a goal and had a few more chances. I think that we kept the opposition under control fairly well. As the spaces opened up more, that was when we struggled more. Their second goal hurt us a lot, and from there we wanted to keep pressing, with more physical effort and more of a stretch, which is when more spaces opened up for them to feel comfortable. It was difficult for us.

The team tried hard, right to the end, and we leave here sad that, after going ahead at a ground where it is always hard and the opposition concede few goals, we weren't able to take anything positive from the game. The Wanda probably isn't the best place to recover dropped points from other games, but the team really tried.”

Goals conceded

“Goals always come from mistakes, from a small error. They can always happen for that reason. Without pointing the finger at anybody, nor say that it was a goal that came from a lack of solidity, these things are improvable. The second goal was down to merit of the opposition, and little more than that.”

Credit to Atletico Madrid

“With experience you can improve situations. If we had cleared the ball before the opposition got onto us, then we would have been able to get it away before they scored the first goal. Goals come from a lack of solidity, but in this case the  goals were down largely to the opposition, and the quality of players they have.”

Turning attention to the Copa del Rey

“We aren’t in a situation to focus on one competition. Each game is its own reason to perform at our best. With the frequency that we are playing games, we will have to rotate players, but without differentiating between groups. We are a team and there will be players who play more, and others who play less. At the moment, the next game is in the Copa del Rey and we will face it with full motivation.”