Marcelino: "We have to play like we did in the first 35 minutes"

A coach with high standards for his sides, Marcelino García Toral left Mestalla on Thursday night with mixed feelings about Valencia CF's showing against FC Krasnodar. Whilst he was pleased with the early stages of the match, he did not feel that the second half of the game had gone as hoped.

The result
"When you're 2-0 up in the 25th minute, you think that you're going to get a definitive result for the second leg, but I think that we should have done more in the second half. We're satisfied with the first 35 minutes, which were maybe the best of the season, but there was a lot that could have been improved upon in the second half."

The aggregate score
"Looking at the first half, we knew what we had to do, but in the second half we didn't push forward or avoid Krasnodar having chances. They took advantage of a chance that came about from a mistake, but we were very week with the ball. This is useful for us to see that games last 90 minutes. The tie is open now."

Euphoria
"If we get involved in euphoria after winning two games in a row, then that's not an intelligent move. We've played many games recently and there have been moments of difficulty and tiredness -both physical and mental."

Parejo's absence for the second leg
"We have to accept situations in football, whether they be injuries or suspensions. We will be without Parejo, so we another player will be in there to show his worth. We won't be a weaker side for missing one player. We always have to try to win. If we go there with the idea of simply not conceding, then we will lose, as if they win 1-0 then we will be knocked out. We have to play like we did in the opening 35 minutes today. We have to be intelligent and go for goals."

His celebration with Rodrigo
"It was something natural. It was a spontaneous reaction from Rodrigo when he scored. I'm grateful to him. I'm really pleased for him and for the rest of the players who suffered at the start of the season. We have players with ambition, who make up a great group. Let's not forget that we won today."