Valencia 0 - Manchester Utd 0

Valencia: Cañizares; Angloma, Ayala, Pellegrino, Carboni; Angulo, Mendieta, Baraja, Kily González; Aimar, Carew (Diego Alonso 75'). 4-4-2.
Man Utd: Barthez; G.Neville, Brown, Stam, Silvestre; Beckham (Butt 75'), Keane, Scholls, Giggs; Sheringham, Cole (Solskjaer 85'). 4-4-2.

Goals: None.

Group A league table:
Manchester Utd..... 7 points
Valencia................... 5 points
Sturm Graz............... 3 points
Panathinaikos........ 1 point

Valencia and Manchester United repeated last year's scoreless draw on a wet night at the Mestalla stadium. With both teams topping their group the interest for this match had been great, and tickets had been sold out for a long time before kick off. However for those of us who paid double face value for a seat up in the gods, it was a surprise to see the brand new stand behind the goal almost empty, permission only having been given by the local authorities the day of the match to open it. Thankfully the rain stopped just before the match started, although the waterlogged pitch made play difficult and if anything favoured the Manchester side, more accustomed to playing in those conditions.

The first surprise as the teams came out on the pitch was the presence of Valencia's new signing Pablo Aimar in the starting line up for the first time, local papers having expected him to start on the bench despite having finally completed all the necessary paperwork and served out a one match ban left over from his last game in Argentina. The man known in his own country as the clown (because he makes people happy with his football) fitted in well, and in virtually his first touch of the ball he put Angulo through to score, only to see Dutch referee Dick Jol rule the goal out for offside. Both sides created chances, with Mendieta waiting too long before shooting and allowing the defence to get back, and Scholes firing a broadside just over the bar.

But Manchester United had come for a draw, and with Stam and Barthez on brilliant form there was no way through. To the delight of the crowd Héctor Cúper brought on 'el loco' Diego Alonso later on, but he too got caught in the visitors net and made no impact. At the other end United were unlucky not to get a penalty when Ayala slid into Andy Cole, but otherwise a superb Angloma and an efficient Carboni cut out any danger from Giggs and Beckham down the wings, and Ferguson decided to pull off the England captain and bring on the more defensive Butt. In the end it was an entertaining game despite the result, leaving Valencia two points behind United at the top of the table. The match was watched by the managers of England and Spain, Eriksson and Camacho, who will be seeing each other again soon in the upcoming international between the two countries. They will be hoping that the atmosphere in that game will be as good as this one, with rival fans mixing amicably in the local bars both before and after the match. The clown had not disappointed, and a good time was had by all.