Mourinho's Real Madrid cruise past Valencia at Mestalla

Federico Valverde opened the scoring in the 28th minute, converting the rebound after Kylian Mbappé’s free-kick was blocked. Arda Güler doubled the advantage eight minutes later, before Mbappé completed the win in the 75th minute. Valencia’s evening deteriorated further when captain José Gayà was sent off for a foul on Mbappé.

José Mourinho was pleased with his players’ response, particularly their willingness to work for one another despite the demands of a congested schedule.

“The applause is for the players. I do not think there is one key to what they are doing. They are responding individually and as a team, and there is great improvement,” he said. “Today we had a lot of possession and not much defensive work, but when we lost the ball there was a great reaction.”

Mourinho highlighted a second-half sprint by Mbappé to cover for Güler as an example of the team’s commitment. “They are very united. From my experience, this team smells good.”

“The players are in extreme fatigue. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are still needed to clear the physical fatigue,” he said. “These players need rest.”

“It has been too much, this marathon of matches. If they stayed, we would give them special attention to recover, but they are going away. I hope we are lucky,” he added.

Valencia manager Javier Aguirre admitted his side had been beaten by the better team and was frustrated by another home defeat.

“Until the first goal, everything was balanced. We were playing on equal terms, but the second goal was already devastating,” he said. “The goals were avoidable and they changed the game.”

Aguirre refused to blame the officials, although he questioned the decision before Madrid’s opener. “It would be easy to talk about the referee and look good with the supporters. I did say that if he called a foul for the first goal, it should have been a red card. He looked at me and said nothing. That is all I can tell you about the referees.”

The defeat leaves Valencia in the relegation zone and still without a home league victory this season. Aguirre acknowledged the pressure but praised his players’ attitude.

“We are in debt to our supporters and in the relegation places. Madrid do not forgive you, and today they did not,” he said.