A matter of pride for Emery

After two consecutive defeats, Unai Emery felt his Valencia players restored a measure pride with a 3-0 win over Real Sociedad on Saturday.

Valencia lost 6-3 at home to Real Madrid on April 23 and followed up that embarrassing loss with a 1-0 reverse away to relegation-threatened Osasuna.

The late-season defeats had threatened to take some of the gloss off an impressive season for Valencia.

But their 18th win of the campaign puts the team back on track with three matches remaining, while they will also finish at least fourth in La Liga, securing a route into Champions League qualification.

“Besides looking for the three points and knowing that a win would ensure us Champions League football, we wanted to erase the performance of our last home game,” Emery said.

“We wanted to regain our self esteem in front of the fans. We did so in the first half,” he added, referring to Roberto Soldado’s brace and a Jonas goal, all of which came in the first half at the Estadio Mestalla.

“We had intensity, had chances and scored goals. There were times in which they could have scored, and in the second half we lowered our intensity. We have an important game on Wednesday, and we were unable to have the continuity from the first half.”

“In general, however, we are satisfied with the win and the confirmation of Champions League football. We now have our big objective of taking third place. We are satisfied for the fans.”

Next up for Valencia is a trip to face Espanyol and a home game against Levante, before ending the season away to Deportivo La Coruna.