Rafa Benítez, Real Madrid head coach, valued his player's hard work in the Mestalla. The manager spoke in the press room, explain his feeling at the end of the match: "We've had a big game. We controlled the match in the first 35 minutes of the first half and it's a shame that it ended how it did. After the break we've had to put in more effort due to being down to 10 men and the only regret is that we conceded straight after scoring".

"It was a really good performance in the first half and a lot of positives after we went down to 10 men. In the end we could have won but we could have lost too. There must be a special mention for the effort and hard work of the team. We saw a good team that with 10 men stood up and was counted, and we could have gone on to win the game".

Position

"That's not a very good question. You're only focusing on the result, the hard work of the team deserve a special mention more than anything else. I can't stop speculation, but I can get the team to work and give the effort that they've given today"

"When you're playing with 10 men and you manage to get in front you must try to be together, compact and switched on. Unfortunately we've conceded too soon and there was nothing we could do. Maybe we were lacking a bit of concentration after we went 2-1 up or maybe the opposition reacted very well".

Benzema

"He did everything he had to do and we made the change to get more control on the game. Not long after we got the sending off and that dictated things a bit. With 10 men the team has put in a lot and did almost everything right".

Varane

"Everyone could have played 90 minutes. Karim was losing a bit of energy, maybe because of the ankle and I looked to strengthen that area but the sending off has hurt us".