Javi Gracia: “We had prepared ourselves for adversity”

Valencia coach Javi Gracia was very satisfied with the comeback and the victory achieved against Villarreal this Friday and said that they had prepared “to be convinced in adversity that it could be won.”

The coach stressed that “the delivery of the team until the last seconds” gave them “the option to win” and acknowledged that with the 0-1 goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen kept them in the game “because the rival could have killed them.”

“We needed to win, we have done it and I am very happy with how we have done it. I hope it makes us feel more confident and joyful ”, he stressed,

“This third win in a row at home gives us confidence. Hopefully that is the signal to continue with that strength. I think we have shown that at home we are doing things a little better than outside ”, he added.

Gracia admitted that the play in which they were awarded a penalty by José Luis Gayà is complicated and asked to unify the criteria.

“The interpretation that is made of the regulation is sometimes difficult to understand and we are seeing actions that lead to confusion because some are beeping and others are not. The most important thing is that they are taken in a more uniform way and that we better understand when it is a penalty and when it is not, ”he claimed.

“I prefer not to give an opinion about the referee because his is a very complicated task, we are here to try to help and be understanding,” he said.

Gracia denied that the fact that Gonçalo Guedes had not played in the last matches was a punishment. “I don't punish, I try to be as fair as possible. Today has been decisive. There are times when the important thing is not quantity but quality ”, he stressed.

Gracia, who thanked the support of some fans on the way from the hotel to the stadium, admitted that the fact that Carlos Soler and Uros Racic are sanctioned for the next game will give Christian Oliva more options, who came out in the final stage and gave him assistance to Guedes.