Thursday’s edition of AS has a bit of a strop on behalf of Valencia.
With a headline saying ‘Illegal Fellaini goal costs Valencia €9.5M’ it’s explained the Spanish club had managed their budget with the inclusion of money from progressing to the next round of the Champions League.
Should that be true, and AS are saying it is, then surely the story should be about the bad business sense of such a move when Valencia knew they were in the same group as Manchester United and Juventus.
The Italian club are on 12 points, Manchester United are on 10, and Valencia 5. Had Marouane Fellaini’s goal never existed, and no other Jose Mourinho man got a late goal, then United would be on 8 points.
Valencia would have then had to beat the Premier League team in December in order to qualify.
AS say Fellaini’s handball was ‘clear’ and that he meant it, and they state this has ‘deprived’ the Spanish club of €9.5m which they would have got for progressing to the next round.
The club’s players and officials were left with ‘indignation’ after watching Fellaini’s goal in the dressing room, following their 1-0 loss to Juventus: ‘the video of the Belgian’s goal went viral’
Manager Marcelino is quoted as saying: “We are surprised that VAR is not in the Champions League… That his goal is with the hand, it angers more.”
