Valencia CF coach Alberto Celades, spoke in the press room at Mestalla following his side's 0-3 defeat to Ajax, and was full of praise for his players despite the negative result.

The defeat
"It was a tough defeat, with a comprehensive scoreline, but I think that the team didn't deserve this result. We had a good first half and went into halftime with the scoreline at 0-2, having missed a penalty and hit the post. We didn't have the same effectiveness in front of goal that Ajax did, and we paid the price. We started well again in the second half, and their goalkeeper made two very good interventions, but we didn't finish our chances. After that, they made it 0-3. We tried right until the end, but it was beyond us by then."

The first half
"I don't think that it's a question of fitness. The key was the effectiveness that Ajax had -which we didn't have. We had a lot of chances, which were very clear, and not finishing them was the key to the game. It was a question of effectiveness, nothing more. Our analysis needs to be deeper and, possibly, we might have had the best first half since I took over as coach. We have to keep improving, but I insist that the result was too harsh."

Finishing chances
"It's a difficult situation for everybody. The first half was very good, but we were punished for our lack of effectiveness. We didn't allow them many chances, but they were effective. They are a good side, Champions League semifinalists from last season, and have the same block and the same coach."

The fans
"I thank the fans, because they were fantastic. The players deserve the affection of the fans, because they've earned it in recent times, and when everything works and we're all together, everything is much more simple for them to perform better. The fans are also aware of what happened on the pitch, which is why their reaction was good, right up until the end. They saw that the players still wanted it, right until the final whistle, and we only have words of thanks for them."