Baraja: "We made a great effort, we gave it our all and competing the way we did has a lot of value"

Valencia CF coach, Rubén Baraja assessed the 4-2 away defeat toFC Barcelona on Matchday 33 in LaLiga EA Sports.

Mamardashvili's sending-off

"It affected everything because it is a sending-off. It leaves us down to 10 men. It is a reality, an extreme situation that complicated the game for us. There were two actions: That action when it was 2-2, and then another chance for Diego which would have kept us alive. We lacked effectiveness. Barça had it, with two corners, two goals, turning the score around. We were unable to hold on despite our great effort. I would have liked to see what it would have been like as 11 against 11 the whole game but it wasn't to be.

Diego López's incident

Diego López's incident is debatable in the sense that there may have been a trip, but he did not consider it to be so."

Possible Lewandoski offside goal 

It was offside. The referee didn't consider it. The referee may or may not consider that there is a penalty, based on whether he participates or not. I would have to see other games with situations like this to assess why he doesn't call offside in this one, who knows...

The game

We made a great effort, I can't hold anything against the players. We gave everything we had despite the difficulties, above all, it was a reflection of what the team showed today, how they picked themselves up after the 1-0, which was a great piece of quality play from Barça. We recovered, we tried to stay alive in the game, we managed to turn it around with two actions and the first half was very complete in all aspects. It was just that action in the final part that led us to chase the game a bit in the second half and we were unable to contain Barça. The team's response was very good, we tried to stick to our game plan. I can only congratulate my players and feel proud of the effort they made despite the difficulties we experienced during the game".

The fixture list 

"We continue with our approach. We have three games at Mestalla and two away. We have to maintain our solidity at Mestalla. We will try to win again at home. We need to use these two defeats to help us to continue. The team did things well, but it didn't help us to win. We need Mestalla to help us stay alive. We are in a good situation, and it will depend on our performance."

Controversial actions

“In the end, it leaves you a little confused, but it is not because we are playing against Barça or Real Madrid... the action leaves me doubtful because Fermín is there and the goalkeeper could have another reaction because of it. But the referee must have seen something else. Besides that, I almost never judge refereeing decisions, but it seems curious to me that certain things, sometimes, are one thing and, sometimes, another, which already requires a bit of interpretation by the referee. This is what I wanted to comment on. There are decisions that are sometimes called for different things.

The youngest starting eleven in the club's history

"The context leads us to take a chance on young players. Our economic situation defines this. Today Yarek played from the start. He is part of our present and future. Cenk had been playing at a good level but we decided to go for Yarek. If you believe in something you have to show it with actions. We have to give these players opportunities. Logically, they will make mistakes, but we will reinforce them and give them the opportunity to improve.

Refereeing

"No. I will say that those two actions were curious, but I do not feel hindered by them. The result in the end depends on the fact that they took their chances, and we didn't. The goal to make it 2-2 came very quickly after the break, then we held on almost until the end. It wasn't to be, so we have to learn from it and move forward."

The Club's direction

“I value it positively because the evolution has been very positive. Fortunately, we have reached our objective ahead of time, we are in a good situation coming into the last 5 games, the team exude energy, enthusiasm and compete in almost all situations, even with difficulties. We have our fans, who we are convinced will come and encourage us in the next game, they believe in our players and the scenario has changed a lot compared to last season. We have to enjoy the situation and do our best to make our fans proud of the season."