Costa: Valencia on track to qualify
Thursday, October 3, 2013
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Valencia CF have "every chance" of qualifying according to Ricardo Costa after the 2-0 win at FC Kuban Krasnodar, for whom Artem Fidler said the Spanish side "totally cut through us".
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Valencia CF's qualification target is back in sight after a 2-0 Group A success at FC Kuban Krasnodar according to Ricardo Costa, who says his side have "every possibility" of progressing after recovering from defeat on matchday one. With two losses to their name, Kuban's round of 32 hopes are looking slim, and Artem Fidler insists fortune is not favouring the side at the moment, displayed in goalkeeper Aleksandr Belenov's slip to present the opener.
Ricardo Costa, Valencia defender
It was a very difficult game for us after losing against Swansea, but I think that the team played very well, concentrated for 90 minutes, scored two goals and won the game. I think Valencia had more possession of the ball, we had more chances to score and Krasnodar only threatened from our mistakes. But I think that 2-0 is a great result for us and more importantly it is three points towards qualification.
I expected the style of the play [from Kuban]. I saw videos of the team; they have great players. They have players who are very fast, and they play on the counter. But I think that today we did everything to contain Krasnodar. It is open. Valencia have every possibility to pass to the next round. I think it is Swansea [who are our main rivals]. Swansea are a great team.
Artem Fidler, Kuban midfielder
In principle, we did not play badly. I think we chose the right tactics. We played more from defence but we conceded a curious goal – it happens to everyone. If we had not conceded that goal, we would definitely not have lost. [Valencia] are professional, they know how to play well, and they cut through us when we were defending. When we started to press, it became easier. When you leave space for them they control the ball better and it becomes difficult to take it away from them.
We will try to forget this defeat and move on. Nothing is lost. Many of the players have not played at this level. Well, I will repeat myself again; if we had not conceded the first goal, we definitely would not have lost this game. Once we put our minds to it, we will be fine.
