Valencia still winless after Aguirre's three matches

Javier Aguirre said it himself after Valencia's 0-3 defeat to Real Madrid at Mestalla. "How could I not be. I have been here for three matches and I still have not won any of them," he told Estadio Deportivo, and the admission fit the mood around Valencia vs Real Madrid rather neatly.

Aguirre's assessment after the defeat

Aguirre did not hide the scale of the problem. He said Valencia are in relegation trouble, and he linked the defeat to goals that were difficult to recover from mentally because they were avoidable. He also said, "Two defeats at home hurt a lot because of the way the first and the second came about."

The league table explains why the tone is so stark. Valencia are 19th in La Liga with 9 points from 11 league matches. That start leaves little room for optimism, even before you get to the home record Aguirre mentioned.

Maffeo's half-time flashpoint

Pablo Maffeo also turned a miserable evening into a talking point. He spoke to DAZN at half-time while Valencia were trailing 0-2, then complained about the referee and said the first goal involved a foul. A Bola reported that version of events, while verified match events show Real Madrid's goals from Federico Valverde and Arda Güler stood.

Maffeo stayed on for 63 minutes and was booked, which only adds to the sense of a match that never settled for Valencia. Valverde scored and finished with an 8.11 rating, while Güler scored, assisted and posted a 9.0 rating. Real Madrid were already two goals up by the break, and Valencia never had a clean way back into it.