Corberán: “The team were able to repay the fans a little”

Valencia CF coach Carlos Corberán reviews the win against Levante UD in his post-match press conference.

An important victory

It's important to reaffirm these positive feelings we have. We already said in the last game that we had made a good impression, but not got the result we wanted.

For me, the team played with great determination from the start, going for the win. We knew the opposition would make it very difficult for us, because Levante UD are a team that compete very well.

In the end, we were able to give our fans a little of what we owe them. We needed to give them some joy, because the support they show us is incredible -especially tonight at Mestalla, with how they cheered from beginning to end.

I like seeing the team create a connection, that the team give their all for the club, and the fans do likewise for the team. That connection undoubtedly makes us strong and helps us compete.

A complete performance

I think the team understood the game we needed from the beginning. Levante UD's approach was different, and I wasn't expecting it. They are usually a team that play or defend with two strikers and two midfielders. Today they fielded three central midfielders and a striker, which is why Pepelu's position wasn't the same as last time, but rather more in midfield, making it a tough match.

It was a game where it was difficult to break down their defensive block, because they switched from pressing high to defending in a 4-5-1, and it was challenging. They were constantly chasing Diego López and Danjuma.

In my opinion, the team competed with great maturity, from start to finish. I can't single out one half of the game, because I think the result was well-deserved. I believe the team worked hard throughout the match.

We created enough chances in the first half to have converted one, but we didn't. In the second half, we maintained that momentum and, above all, the same determination in how the team played. We went for the three points and never stopped fighting until we got them.

A team victory

Valencia CF won today as a team. Every player fought incredibly hard to achieve this victory. They celebrated the way the win deserved, because we needed and wanted to give the fans a victory, given how much they support us and because we hadn't managed it in recent matches. It was a tense, very competitive match. Hugo Duro's contribution today was vital.

The disallowed goal for Diego López

There was a replay I saw where Copete's heel, in the frame they used, appeared to be breaking the line of play. Honestly, watching it live, it didn't look like he was offside. When we saw the replay on our camera -that wasn't stationary-, it wasn't the same image as the VAR replay.

I suppose the VAR angle is different from the angle we see the images from on the bench, because there was no way to believe he was offside. And it was clear in that replay that his heel was breaking the offside line. It didn't seem like that was creating an advantage, but there are rules and we have to accept them.

The contribution of the strikers

As I said yesterday in the press conference, we have two specific strikers, plus Danjuma, who is the third forward, and I think they both bring very necessary things to the team.

I think we also have something positive, which is that they can both play together; I think they complement each other. Hugo Duro is a lethal player in the box, as he demonstrated today. Beltrán also helps us a lot at times to speed up the game and increase our dominance.

Both of them bring very interesting and necessary things to the table. Sometimes we choose to play both -although so far we've played more with one than with both of them together-, but they complement each other perfectly.

Keeping a clean sheet

Julen Agirrezabala is a player who brings calm to our play, who gives us a lot of confidence, and who continues to improve. You see it every day in the way he and the other goalkeepers, Dimitrievski and Cristian Rivero, train. For me, all three are in a very positive working dynamic that is helping them all grow tremendously. That growth, is what's reflected on the pitch and is very important to us.

The psychological value of the victory

Perhaps today's victory is a continuation of the performance the team delivered in the last match against Betis. I think that's where the team's performance shifted, where we conveyed to the stands what our fans wanted to see, where the team displayed tremendous intensity from the first whistle to the final whistle, where they fought and overcame adversity. And the team hasn't stopped doing what they did yesterday against Betis for a single day leading up to today's match.

Every day in training, the team has trained with enthusiasm, with character, with desire, eager for the next match, today's match, and with the same mentality and passion they displayed today.

For me, it was a very competitive game, in which the team, thanks to that mentality and continuity, achieved a victory that is obviously important -first of all because we wanted to dedicate it to our fans, because we hadn't achieved a positive result for a long time. It also allows us to feel what the path to follow is.