Valencia dream of final date after Dynamo win
Friday, February 28, 2014
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Valencia CF No1 Diego Alves ensured a 0-0 draw that eliminated FC Dynamo Kyiv and already has an eye on the final, as Miguel Veloso rued not making the most of a promising start.
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A scoreless draw was enough to take Valencia CF past FC Dynamo Kyiv and into a UEFA Europa League round of 16 tie with PFC Ludogorets Razgrad. The Spanish side's goalkeeper Diego Alves was delighted they stood firm for a 2-0 aggregate victory, while Miguel Veloso regretted that the visitors did not make the most of a promising opening 15 minutes at Mestalla.
Diego Alves, Valencia goalkeeper
We had a good result from the first leg and Dynamo went into today's match with more ambition. They had nothing to lose and it was a tough game. In the first half we had a lot of possession without creating chances but with the feeling they could cause us problems. We eventually made it to the next round because we put in a complete performance last week. We recognised that Dynamo are a strong team physically, with tall players blessed with quality.
Ludogorets Razgrad have eliminated Lazio and we will study them, but honestly I don't know much about them. But if they are in the next round it's because they have done well. They are a tough team and it will be a difficult tie. We believe in our chances of reaching the final, but we want to go match by match, trying to improve in every game.
Seydou Keita, Valencia midfielder
Results in football are always important and we are in the next round. We are excited by our qualification. Against Ludogorets we will approach the tie carefully, aiming to get through again. I'm adapting well to my new team and physically I'm fine. When you win matches it's much easier. Of course, we would like to get the trophy, but we will take it game by game.
Antonio Barragán, Valencia defender
It's true that Dynamo tried to move the ball more in this match and they tried to win today, but we were strong. We gave a determined performance, which we wanted, and now we are thinking about our next match. We don't know anything about them [Ludogrets], we were focused on Dynamo, who we knew well. Now we will go back to the Liga and after that we will begin to think again about this competition.
[Coach Juan Antonio] Pizzi came to Valencia [in December] with a lot of excitement – he gives us a lot of intensity in our training sessions and gives us the experience to go into matches with confidence. We have to keep working and improving the things we're not doing well. We have high hopes invested in this UEFA Europa League. We will fight until the end and will fight to win the tournament.
Miguel Veloso, Dynamo midfielder
We lost at home and then did everything to win the match here at Mestalla, but we didn't succeed. Dynamo started better in the first 15 minutes and after that Valencia took over. It was a good match, a hard-fought game between these two teams, but Valencia have qualified because they scored two goals in the first leg. The outcome is sad because we wanted to get as far as possible, but we haven't succeeded.
