Rioja: "We leave here annoyed that we didn't get the three points"

Luis Rioja gave his view on Valencia CF's Matchday 15 game against Sevilla FC after the final whistle.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE GAME

“It was a rough, physical match, and I think Valencia CF gradually absorbed Sevilla's style of play. Sevilla played a physical game, as we saw they would from their starting XI, trying to create a compact, strong, and aggressive unit, both in defence and midfield.

Little by little, although I think we didn't start badly, we gradually absorbed their approach. And in the end, caught up in that momentum, we faded a bit and saw our chances of scoring a third goal and creating danger diminish. We couldn't adapt and find our rhythm in that physical game the match became. I think the team, even though we didn't play as well as we would have liked, have heart, compete, and we managed to secure a point at the end of the match. We even had a couple more chances afterwards to try and push for a different result. We salvaged the point, which was the least the team deserved, given that we were more proactive and I think the only side who wanted to play football. We have to appreciate that, although it's true we're disappointed because we would have liked to have taken all three points.”

THE DYNAMIC

“We have to value the fact that we’re on a four-game unbeaten run, five if you count the Copa del Rey match. But I’m not at all satisfied. I think today’s game was one we should have won here at Mestalla. The team were ready, we'd worked really hard for it after such a physically demanding week. In the end we salvaged a point, which at least helps extend the run.”

THE NEXT CHALLENGE

“We know we’re going to a very difficult ground where we’re going to have to suffer, where we’re going to have to dig deep and try to work hard to achieve a positive result. We’re going to try to compete as well as possible and try to make the fans proud of the team’s performance there. of course, we'll try to win the match, even though we know it’s a very tough ground to go to.”