Paulista: "We had worked on the set piece during the entire preseason"

Gabriel Paulista was finally able to celebrate scoring a goal at Mestalla when he levelled against Levante UD. That's not to say he hadn't put the ball in the net before, as last season he had a goal ruled out against FC Barcelona and another against Atletico Madrid that resulted in him being taken to hospital. He talked about his opening matchday strike with VCF Media.

"It's a derby, and you always have to win the derbies. It was also a very difficult game. Levante have very good players, they are a good team and it is never easy to win when we play them," commented the Brazilian defender.

"We didn't start off very focused, but then we got into the game, equalising quickly from a corner on a well-worked move. Then we conceded the second goal by Morales, pulled back level through Maxi and started to improve, defending better. At halftime Javi Gracia spoke with us and positioned us better on the pitch, and our second half was better than the first."

As expected, plenty of people wanted to congratulate Paulista and join i his celebrations from afar.

"I received a lot of messages from my friends and family. I'm happy, because we work hard for that. First you have to defend, and then if you have chances to score and can help the team, all the better. We had worked on the move during the entire preseason and we worked on trying to hurt the opposition from set pieces. It was a good ball from Kang In and I scored the goal that helped the team. The most important thing is that we were able to win the derby," said the beaming centre back.

"Today I was able to celebrate my first goal at Mestalla. I had one against Barça that was ruled out, and against Atletico Madrid I was taken to hospital straight after scoring. The most important thing is that it has helped to make the fans happy."