The coach of Valencia, Jose Bordaláswas satisfied with the draw achieved this Thursday in San Mamés against Athletic in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals despite the fact that, in his opinion, the referee did not award a “very clear” penalty to Hugo Hard and a straight red to Danny Garcia.
“It is a very worthwhile result, although we have the feeling that we could even have won if we had awarded that penalty to Hugo Duro. We do not hold the referee responsible. José Luis played a fantastic game, but we do not understand why the VAR does not review that action like the entrance to Carlos Soler, which we believe was worthy of a direct red card”, explained Bordalás.
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The Valencian coach hopes that at the end of the tie his team will not “have to regret” these two actions. “They are very fast, but I don’t understand why they don’t notify them from the VAR. But we are not going to insist. The tie is at 50% and we trust the team. At times they have played a great game with an atmosphere against them. In Mestalla the fans will be with the team and there will be an atmosphere like today in San Mamés, fantastic”, he explained.
On the other hand, Bordalás revealed that Gayá asked for the change due to a “muscular problem” for which he will undergo medical tests this Friday, and did not reveal the reason for the expulsion at halftime Maxi Gomez because he didn’t see the action. “I don’t know what happened because she had already entered the locker room. I can’t comment,” she settled.