The Valencia pact

With two games in three days against the same opponent in the same city, Mourinho considered the idea of staying away and not having to travel to the same place twice. The Portuguese manager hoped that his players would stay in Valencia between the Spanish league and Copa de Rey matches for a mini pre-match preparation period in Valencia.

However, the proposal received a negative response from the players and they all reached an agreement that the best plan was to return to Madrid once the league game had finished, and travel back to the Mestalla stadium again on Wednesday for the definitive Copa del Rey quarter final match.

There were no arguments; it was purely a suggestion by the Portuguese coach to gauge the opinion of his squad, who ended up declining the proposal. The team's spectacular performance in Valencia gave preliminary indications that the players were right in their decision not to stay.

Now they need to back it up, showing the team's commitment in its second trip to Valencia in three days. The players did not want to stay and work there but will have to demonstrate that they were correct in thinking they would work better by returning to Madrid and going back on the day.