Jose Gaya defended the tackle that earned him a straight red card as Valencia slipped to a three-goal to nil defeat at Real Madrid in La Liga on Saturday evening.
Speaking to the press after the match, the Valencia captain addressed the referee's decision: "I have not watched the incident again, but I had to stop the attack. It's true that my tackle was strong, but I had no intention whatsoever of hurting the player."
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He went on: "I think the images show that I did not go in with my studs, rather my foot was low."
"I don't know whether the referee sent me off because of the force of the tackle, or because I was the last defender," he continued. "I was in a poor defensive position, but for me, the incident deserved only a yellow card."
The sending-off came in the 79th minute, Gaya's challenge landing on Kylian Mbappe, who had put Real Madrid three up four minutes earlier. Valencia saw out the closing stages with ten men.
Federico Valverde had opened the scoring in the 28th minute. Arda Guler doubled the visitors' lead in the 36th before Mbappe completed the rout. The win lifts Real to second in La Liga on 30 points, level with leaders Barcelona, who travel to third-placed Atletico Madrid, on 28 points, on Sunday.