Valencia coach Ruben Baraja admits Atletico Madrid gave them a reality check in Sunday's defeat.
Los Che 2-0 in Madrid as Samuel Lino and Memphis Depay struck for Atletico.
Baraja later said: "It's very nice to say we are going to fight for Europe, but then we have to prove it in every game.
"The worst thing about the match has been this, you can come and Atltico can beat you, but we have not been what we have been and that is what has bothered me a lot. We have not been pressuring, we have let them play very free.
"In the first half until 1-0 the best was 0-0. In the second half we were better, they made us second, but in a different way. But it is a situation that we have to live with, you come in a good dynamic, a team like this comes and slaps you.
"At Mestalla we know that we have to compete with a brutal level of demand. Atltico is light years ahead of us in many things, but at least compete. It's something we have to learn. But this whole atmosphere that It means that the team is demanding things that do not correspond to them at this moment in this season, because it can confuse us. If the team stops doing things that correspond to it, it could happen that you lose, especially in a place like this."
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