Mateu Alemany: "Sunday is an absolute final"

Valencia CF director general and spokesman, Mateu Alemany, reacted to the club's UEFA Europa League exit at the semifinal stage in an interview with ‘Liga de Campeones’ on Thursday night, in which he looked back at the key moments of the second leg and emphasised the importance of responding on Sunday against Alavés.

"I don't think that we should be disappointed with our performance. The team wanted to win and we began the game phenomenally, clearly dominating. We scored the first goal, and I think that the key to the game was the equaliser. It was practically the first time that they had got past the halfway line, it was a goal kick and with two or three touches they scored. You can't allow that at this level and it did us a lot of damage," Alemany reflected.

"We had felt that we were close to making it 2-0, and that was a clear dampener. Everything after that is a consequence of the equaliser. Arsenal grew at that moment, when they had been hurt. They have two top strikers who were very precise in the tie, and that put an end to our chances."

Alemany refuted the journalist's reading of the game as an indication that Valencia CF are a step below the Premier League side.

"I don't believe we are. Not in terms of how we play. Arsenal were spectacularly precise and evidently they are a very good side, but in terms of their overall play, they are not a level above us. There were important moments in the games: In London time had practically run out when they made it 3-1, and today we generated more chances, but the opposition's effectiveness was very high."

"We have to pick ourselves back up. Sunday is an absolute final. We have three finals remaining this season."