Valencia needed to beat the LaLiga champions and rely on other results going their way to claim a Conference League place. They delivered their side of the bargain with a stunning second-half comeback, Javi Guerra levelling after Robert Lewandowski had given the visitors the lead, before Luis Rioja and substitute Guido Rodríguez added two more. Getafe and Rayo Vallecano both won their games, however, extinguishing any hope from Mestalla.
The result was overshadowed further by a serious knee injury suffered by midfielder Diego López during the match. Corberán confirmed the club would assess the extent of the damage in the coming days, but the manner of the injury was concerning.
"The team is sad in the dressing room because the outcome was not what we wanted. We knew the situation did not depend only on us to achieve what we all wanted, but the team did everything it could," Corberán told DAZN after the final whistle.
"We have won, but we are unsatisfied for not having achieved Europe and also because of Diego López's injury. There were very emotional words from his team-mates towards him. The group is hurting for not having achieved the objective and also because a team-mate has suffered an injury we will assess in the coming days."
On the knee injury itself: "Because of the way his knee went, these are injuries that you don't like to see. It was a moment of shared pain in the dressing room. Diego's words to the group, and the group's words to him, were emotional. It has been a very united dressing room."
In his press conference that followed, Corberán was direct about where the season had been lost.
"The first half of the season. The team will be the fourth best side of the second half of the campaign, but we were inconsistent in the first half, where we did not compete as we should. That dissatisfaction remains."
He accepted personal responsibility for what he described as the most painful element of the campaign.
"I am responsible for not getting the performance from my team in that first phase. As a club we have to analyse and diagnose what happened. We have to correct it."
When asked whether he had done enough to retain his position as head coach, Corberán declined to answer directly.
"That is not a question a coach can answer. What I have done is give my life for this club, because I carry it in my blood and it is my family. It means an enormous amount in my life and I assure you that any Valencia supporter feels the same pain as their coach. But there are answers I cannot give you."
Asked whether he felt strong enough to continue given the difficult atmosphere in recent weeks, he was similarly guarded: "It is not the moment to speak about the future but about the present. It is a day of pain for not having managed to reach Europe and for Diego's injury."
His contract at Valencia expires this summer, leaving his status unresolved entering what could be a significant summer of change at the club.
The performance against the champions suggested the platform is there. The consistency to build on it remains the question.