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"We lost the match in the first half"

Quique Sánchez Flores recognises that "we pretended to create an uncomfortable game for Valencia but we did not get it”

Mestalla waited for Espanyol with a convulsive atmosphere. Quique knew that and he tried to draw a strategic plan to obtain a positive result. But Valencia accelerated in the first minutes and took advantage on the scoreboard: “We did not play well in the first 45 minutes, we did not close the spaces and Valencia attacked us well on the left side. We could not take advantage of the spaces in attack either. We lost the match in the first half and with the first goal” said the coach.

Sánchez Flores admitted that they could not develop the game they had planned: "We pretended to create a chaotic setting, to create an uncomfortable game for Valencia but we did not get it”.

Finally, about Valencia, he explained: "We came to a very complicated field, against a powerful rival. Valencia plays well, but when we get more balance in the second half, we were at a better level".