King’s Cup winners Valencia have deferred their celebrations until after they have secured their Primera Liga safety, club president Agustin Morera said.
Valencia beat Getafe 3-1 at the Vicente Calderon on Wednesday to claim their seventh King’s Cup, but with only five points separating them from the relegation places with six games to go in the league, this Sunday’s trip to face Athletic Bilbao has been given priority.
“We are going to take it calmly. We have to return to Valencia and start preparations for the Bilbao game because we still have work to do in the league,” Morera said.
“In principle, we’ll postpone the festivities and when everything is a little more settled we’ll all celebrate it together.”
The future of Valencia coach Ronald Koeman’s has been the subject of intense speculation in the last few days and he has been barracked by fans at recent matches.
Winning them a trophy failed to sway all the Valencia fans on the subject of Koeman, many of whom could be heard calling for his departure after the final whistle.
“I didn’t hear them well. I wasn’t sure if they were telling me to stay or go,” Koeman said .
“No one has said anything to me about my future. It isn’t in my hands. If they want to tell me something I’ll be at home tomorrow afternoon.”
“We’ve got a project at Valencia and whether we had won or lost the Cup it doesn’t changed anything.
“I hope that the Cup triumph will allow us to work more calmly from now.
“I’m already thinking about the game on Sunday (when Valencia have a tricky away visit to Athletic Bilbao). I know it’s been nine years since Valencia last won the Cup but now we’ve got to concentrate on the league.
“There are some things you can’t explain. In the Cup we were outstanding against Atletico (Madrid) and Barcelona.
“Maybe it’s because they were knock-out ties with only two matches and we are always thinking we can resolve our situation in the league.
“Our problem is more mental than anything else although we’ve also been unlucky on a few occasions,” added Koeman
For Getafe, it was a second consecutive King’s Cup final defeat after losing last year’s 1-0 to Sevilla.
This loss came just six days after their heartbreaking defeat to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals, which saw them knocked out on the away goals rule.
“In only four years in the top flight Getafe have reached two cup finals, and have done very well in their first UEFA Cup campaign,” Getafe coach Michael Laudrup said.
“This team has demonstrated that last year was no fluke and I see no reason to believe it should all end here.”
