Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the press gathered in the Mestalla media room to assess the victory over Valencia: “The team was able to bounce back from obstacles in the sending-off, the missed penalty and the goal ruled out. It's hard to explain how bad we were in the first half, and how well we played in the second. They are three well deserved points, but we can't see a repeat of this: a horrible first half, no balance, and then a superb second period with ten men."
“I've congratulated the players in the dressing room and told them exactly what I've just said to you. It was a very poor first half and a very good second. We started to play after the goal and the second half was really impressive, down to ten men and all the problems we had. It's a deserved victory."
Vini Jr.'s red card
“We felt the sending-off should have been two yellows, one for each player, but they showed Vini Jr. a red. We're going to appeal it, I'm not sure if they'll overturn it. We don't feel it was a red card. Dimitrievski laid hands on him and then there was Vini Jr.'s shove. Two yellows would have sufficed and that would have been it. I don't want to say he fell into the trap. Vini Jr. struggled a bit. He was playing outside in the first half and he just tried to play his game. Sometimes it all comes off for him, others not so much. I hope he can play in the next game because he's very much a player who makes the difference for us."
The missed penalty
"Dimitrievski didn't have his feet on the line, but as he didn’t touch the ball, it doesn't have to be retaken. They thought he didn't interfere so they didn't order a retake. It bothers me that we have missed three penalties and I think I have to take responsibility for deciding who takes them."
Praise for Bellingham
"He had a great game. The missed penalty gave him extra motivation and he played the last half hour as only he knows how. He worked hard and helped Mbappé up front. The goal was a reward for his performance."
Camavinga's introduction
"Mendy played his game and as Vini Jr. was giving us width, we needed a player like Camavinga to play more on the inside. Mendy, in my opinion, played a good game".