Barcelona assistant manager, Jordi Roura admitted that fatigue from Wednesday evening’s Copa del Rey semi-final match against Real Madrid may have played a factor in his side’s 1-1 draw with Valencia at La Mestalla on Sunday evening.

• By Tom Conn       Follow @TomConnISF
  

In his post-match press conference, Roura felt that a draw was a fair result, while also admitting that La Mestalla has historically been one of the most difficult places to play.

“There is no doubt that we were in a tough game and these games always wear on us.  In the first half, we struggled to get into the match and in the second we were at a higher level than the first.  We came in with the intention of earning three points, but it is always difficult to win here.  Overall, the draw was fair.  In five years, we have only won once, a draw is good enough.

“I say we struggled a bit in the first half and it was because we were lacking depth, but I think in the second half we had more.  We had three or four chances, but couldn’t convert.  It’s possible that the game against Real Madrid still weighed on us.

“We came in on four days rest but we knew full well that this would be a difficult match, we preferred to play strong on defence.  Mascherano had a yellow and Soldado was moving the ball well, he moved well between the lines and we could have had a dangerous situation.

“The result may be due to the fatigue from our match against Madrid, but that shouldn’t take away from the quality of our opponent.  We knew what Valencia would bring and how they wear on you.  Valencia wouldn’t let us play and in the first half they were tighter.  We analyzed the line-up and it depended on the days we had to recover.  If we had only three days, the line up would’ve been different.  This week we will have more room to work with. We’ll have players in and out for various reasons.”

Roura finally commented on the excellent match by goalkeeper, Victor Valdes.

“We have the best keeper and we will support him all the way.”