Defeat on the night and a headache for the morning. Suffice to say, Swansea manager Michael Laudrup did not have the best of evenings.

A draw would have put his Swansea side into the knockout stages of the Europa League with a game to spare, owing to Kuban Krasnodar’s demolition of St Gallen earlier in the day. They couldn’t do that and, worse still, they lost Wilfried Bony to a hamstring injury that could wreck their Christmas, if it’s as serious as Laudrup thinks.

He predicted a lay-off of ‘several weeks’ ahead of a scan at the weekend, which, coupled with Michu’s ankle problems, might yet prove to be the biggest ramification of this defeat.

At the very least, they must travel to Switzerland to face St Gallen under a pressure they could have done without, even if their elimination can come only if they lose and Kuban beat Valencia in Spain, achieving a three-goal swing in the process.

‘I know that in European competition you have to play to the last game,’ Laudrup said. ‘We just have to get that point in Switzerland.’

With the way Swansea’s form has swung this season, anything is possible, though if they do fall short plenty will point to the poor decision that saw an Alvaro Vazquez equaliser disallowed for offside.

Laudrup said: ‘Valencia were better in the first half and dominated midfield without creating many chances. Having said that, we had a disallowed goal. Unfortunately for us, the decision went against us. He was a yard onside.’ Laudrup had warned his players about the likelihood this would be a match against the ‘real Valencia’, who started with six full internationals and five players with age-grade honours.

Yet that same group of players are 11th place in La Liga, and their manager, Miroslav Djukic, has been pelted with abuse by supporters for the better part of three months, including that night in the Mestalla two months ago.

That match was as good as over after 10 minutes when Valencia had Adil Rami sent off. Here, there was little sign of life until Bony made a hash of a header after 15 minutes. Alejandro Pozuelo had caused panic with a corner and Valencia keeper Diego Alves got little distance on his punch. Bony had plenty of the goal to aim for but headed wide.

Gerhard Tremmel’s punch in similar circumstances at the other end was far stronger but it led to the opening goal after 21 minutes. Tremmel’s clearance fell to Juan Bernat 25 yards from goal, and though his volley was mis-hit, it deflected off Roland Lamah into the path of Daniel Parejo, who side-footed low past the German.

Parejo and Jonas then wasted chances from distance and Joao Pereira took an absurd dive. The real Valencia? Not really. The real Swansea were nowhere to be seen — not for the first time since their win in Spain.

The loss of Bony after 41 minutes with what appeared to be a hamstring injury is a major concern. The Swansea manager said: ‘It could be quite a serious one. We have to wait for a scan but we are looking at several weeks.’

The decision to rule out Alvaro Vazquez’s tap-in for offside a few minutes later was simply baffling — both he and Jonjo Shelvey were onside when the cross from Angel Rangel went over, but Laudrup said: ‘I don’t want to speak about the referee.’

Sofiane Feghouli went close as Valencia continued to threaten after the break, sliding wide after being put clear by Sergio Canales, and Swansea had good chances through Jonathan de Guzman and Alvaro Vazquez but they came to nothing.

—Daily Mail