Aston Villa boss Unai Emery was delighted with their 2-1 preseason victory at Valencia.
Ollie Watkins and Emi Buendia struck for the win.
Emery said: “Today was a really tough match.
“Playing away is always difficult and we have to be competitive. Today, for example, we weren't brilliant for 90 minutes, we didn't control the game like we wanted but I think we competed well.
“Over 90 minutes, we took our moments to control the game better than we were doing. We scored two goals and didn't concede a lot of chances to them; their goal was a small mistake.
“Now we're analysing the pre-season, I am happy with the matches we played in the United States, I'm happy with the match we played against Lazio and the match we played today with the atmosphere.
“Next week we are starting away against Newcastle and we have to take the good things we are doing, be competitive and try to stay strong this season."