Valencia's Pepelu says red card 'changed all their plans' against Barcelona

Valencia midfielder Pepelu lamented that "an unfortunate play", the sending off of goalkeeper Mamardashvili for handball in first half stoppage time, changed "the plans" for the Valencia side, who lost 4-2 to Barcelona on Monday.

"It's a bittersweet feeling. What we wanted to reflect went well, but an unfortunate play changes all the plans. Then we conceded from set pieces, which is something we've been doing well and it went against us. It's something we have to learn from," he said.

Speaking to 'DAZN', Pepelu admitted that Ruben Baraja's plan was to generate danger with long balls into space.

"We are young people who have to learn from these games," admitted the midfielder, who acknowledged that Mamardashvili's sending off was "a clear handball" in an "unfortunate play". "In the game there are mistakes. And it happened to us. We have to pick ourselves up and carry on," he added.