Diego 6 - Had one amazing save in the first half, but other than that nothing to do except get the ball out of his net once.
Barragan 6 - Mixed results. Went forward to good extent, but his crosses were poor and failed to link up good enough with Feghuoli.
Rami 6 - Wasn't troubled and did well in winning the aerial battles.
Costa 4 - Had 2 very poor decisions and thankfully didn't result in goals. Was suspect and if Atletico were on their game it could have been at least 2-0 for Atletico Madrid.
Alba 6.5 - Defended well and went forward to good extent, having some good crosses and passes.
Parejo 4 - Gave away the ball that lead to Atletico goal and wasn't much of an influence before that either.
Albelda 6.5 - Captain performance, solid defensively and really made a difference in spreading the ball, often times acting as a playmaker.
Feghuoli 5.5 - Powerful start to the match with few shots and smart passes, but faded off and was almost invisible in the second half.
Jonas 5.5 - Good positioning and some good passes, but ultimately failed to score or assist.
Canales 6.5 - Great performance, was the most influential and dangerous player for Valencia CF, had few claims for a penalty as well, unlucky to be inured shortly in the second half and we he is likely to be out for at least another 3 months. Unlucky season for Canales.
Soldado 5.5 - Wasn't really a factor. Had some good interplay and some good movement, but failed to score and that says it all. In this type of match you need to score and he didn't deliver.
Subs:
Aduriz 5 - Had no effect at all. He is right now quite bad and I feel just using Paco at this point would have been so much better.
Mathieu 4 - Came in and failed to stop Adrian shot even though he has the time and chance. Right now Mathieu is absolutely unreliable and unless he changes his attitude and play he might as well be sold in the summer for about 10 million euros and those funds used to bring someone better.
Tino 5.5 - Better than Parejo, but that doesn't say much. Had one shot on goal that was saved and was involved with the play, but couldn't change the outcome.
We bite the dust yet again and yet again we are defeated in a very important match by Atletico Madrid. They defeated us in the Europa League 2 years ago and went on to win the cup and this season they seem likely to do again.
Unai Emery has shows yet again that he has no idea how to win in these 2 fixture games and coupled with the poor results in the league he needs to leave this summer.
This was a rather good match for Valencia CF and the team played solidly in the first half dominating the match, having chances, but we couldn't score and that is the biggest thing we needed to do and fast in order to chase a 2 goals lead that Atletico had. So the fact that we played great and still lost, pretty much describes the feeling.
I must say I am terrible disappointed in the player and the inconsistency they've shown. I mean Emery has to take big blame, but ultimately the players just haven't been up to part every week and have failed. I had hopes before the match as my heart told me there is a chance, although my head told me its pretty much over and unless Atletico screw up badly we've already lost.
I went with my heart, but I'm left frustrated again at the end of and writing this post alleviates some of my frustration.
Right now we need to focus up on securing 3rd place in La Liga and we have a big match in just few days against Malaga who are hot on our trails for 3rd place. This is a must win match and we must secure third place. After that hopefully we can get Debuchy from Lille and bring in a good left winger and with a new coach be more successful next season, possible even competing with Real and Barcelona.
