Champions League: Valencia, Bayern draw to make last 16

Madrid, Nov 21 (IANS) Valencia and Bayern Munich drew 1−1 in Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium to ensure their places in the knock−out round of the Champions League.

Valencia kicked off the Tuesday game knowing they were already in the next phase of the competition as BATE Borisov had already fallen victim to a 0−2 defeat at home to Lille, reports Xinhua.

The result meant that Valencia, who had defeated BATE twice, were through as the result of a superior individual goal difference while Bayern who still have to play the side from Belarus, needed a point to assure their progress.

That was made clear in the opening minutes as Bayern looked for the win against a home side that was grateful to keeper Vicente Guaita for a pair of excellent saves from Bayern defender Dante Costa and for the first 25 minutes the Spanish side struggled to create anything.

Things went from bad to worse after 34 minutes when Valencia full back David Barragan was sent off for a direct red card. The Valencia right−back already had a yellow card when he flew into a challenge and referee Howard Webb had little option other than to leave Valencia with 10 men.

Oddly the home side then played some of their best football of the night with Roberto Soldado and Sofiane Feghouli both shooting over the Bayern bar.

Apart from a Soldado header from a Feghouli cross and another miss from the striker after a ball from Tino Costa, the majority of the possession and the attacks came from the visitors, although they failed to create clear chances against a hard working Valencia before Mario Mandzukic hit the post with 18 minutes remaining.

Valencia proved Breitner wrong when they took the lead with 13 minutes remaining when Feghouli’s shot hit Dante’s arm to deflect into the back of the Bayern net, but Valencia’s joy lasted for just four minutes as Tomas Muller levelled the score with a finish ensuring the game ended in a draw which sees both sides make it into the last 16.

IANS 2012-11-21 14:22:13