More than strategy, however, Martinez believed that the physical and mental effort exerted by his players was the key. “The most important thing is the mental situation, to understand that these kinds of games are very physical but you need to be concentrated for 40 minutes,” the Valencia play-caller said.
“In the bad moments, we don’t have to lose our heads, and play together.”
The host’s ability to keep pushing throughout the game was also highlighted by defeated coach Oded Kattash, who admitted there were no excuses after seeing his team score just 33 second-half points.
“They kept with the same tempo, like they always do,” he said. “We knew that in the second half, it was not going to be easy. You have to be concentrated for 40 minutes against Valencia, but we were short on that.”
Valencia, in contrast, was short of nothing in the second half – certainly not energy, and the Spanish team’s spirited comeback will have silenced a few doubters about its prospects for the rest of the season.