Marcelino: "This squad have had an amazing season"

Fourth place for Valencia CF was a deserved reward for a side who never stopped believing, led by a coach who was convinced that his players could bounce back. After a long campaign, capped by a win against Real Valladolid, Marcelino spoke to the media in his post-match press conference.

The importance of the Champions League

“I’ve been lucky enough to have two great squads here, who have got us this far. We had a lot of problems this season, but this group have turned around the situation and earned fourth place when three places were already decided, after ending the first half of the campaign 10 points off the Champions League spots. This squad have had an amazing season, and I thank them on behalf of the coaching staff.”

The season as a whole

“We always gave priority to LaLiga. Valencia CF have to get into the Champions League repeatedly in order to grow and become one of the best teams in Europe, but that isn’t easy because teams who aren’t regulars in that competition struggle in LaLiga -as we saw last year with Sevilla. I would undoubtedly say that this has been an outstanding season.

“We are going to have played 61 games this season, and that has only happened once in our 100 years of history. We have been rowing against the current, as since January 5th we have played three games per week during every active week. Qualifying for the Champions League is a very important morale booster ahead of the Copa del Rey final, and winning that would be  a great prize.”

Words with Peter Lim

“He told us that it was a job well done, which isn’t easy, and that we can enjoy Champions League football with our fans for another season. I hope that this helps us to realise that we have a squad and a coaching staff that will never give in, and that will work to take Valencia CF as high as possible.”

The opening quarter hour

“We found the game really hard. It was a question of clinching fourth place and we were imprecise, tentative, separate and not ourselves. Gradually we settled down, and going ahead is the best support possible for that.”

The most difficult moment of the season

“The day that we faced SD Huesca I saw some difficulties, but Piccini popped up and brought us some joy back. We felt that was the moment in which the trend changed, but we went to Vitoria and lost on a pitch that was 50% frozen, when we shouldn’t have played. The team picked ourselves back up, and I always had faith and conviction -because I saw that we were competitive.”