Vallejo: "We showed that we are a strong team"

Manu Vallejo grabbed his first brace for Valencia CF as a vital contributor to the 4-2 win at Mestalla on Matchday 1. The striker gave his thoughts to VCF Media after the final whistle.

"It's an important victory against a side who are also cross-city rivals. That was important and so was taking the three points, starting well and beginning a positive run. I think that's what the team deserve," said the Andalusian striker, who revealed what coach Javi Gracia had instructed the side at half time.

"The coach asked us to be ourselves and provide intensity, to break open the game. He told us to see what the game needed, which was a little bit more of an opening. The pace was a little slow and a change could facilitate us turning the game around. I think that was the case. In the end, it was isolated moves that came my way and I scored them. I'm very happy that they enabled the team to take the three points and start a winning run -which is what we are looking for."

"Football is clear. You have to be strong in both areas: You need to defend well and take the chances that come your way. We conceded a lot in the first half, but we turned that around and were more solid in defence in the second half, as well as putting away our chances. We showed that we are a strong team, as despite going behind twice we came back to win."

As for what the brace meant to him on a personal level, Vallejo commented that "I'm very happy, because in the end you don't score two goals everyday. I value this and it helps me to continue working for my teammates with more joy. It allows me to try to extend what I did today in 25 minutes across a longer amount of time."