Valladolid 0 - Valencia 0

Valladolid: Bizzarri; Torres Gómez, García Calvo, Heinze, Marcos; Fernando Sales (Alberto 80'), Eusebio, Jesús, Antonio López; Caminero (Ricchetti 82'); Kaviedes (Turiel 86'). 4-4-1-1.
Valencia: Cañizares; Angloma, Ayala, Pellegrino (Djukic 65'), Carboni; Angulo, Albelda, Baraja, Kily González (Vicente 87'); Juan Sánchez (Ilie 70'), Carew. 4-4-2.

Team changes: Valladolid: Caminero for Ciric / Valencia: Carboni, Juan Sánchez for Djukic, Mendieta.

Goals: None.

An unrecognisable Valencia lost top spot for the first time in seven weeks with a score-less draw at Valladolid. Missing their inspirational captain Mendieta, they were void of ideas, and were lucky in the end to hold on to a point. Mendieta had been carrying a muscle strain for several weeks, and with a tricky Champions League game coming up on Wednesday, Cúper decided to give him a rest, moving the versatile Angulo to his position in midfield and bringing back Sánchez in attack, now recovered from his tummy trouble last week. With Carboni returning from injury at left back, the manager went back to his 4-4-2 formation. Valladolid manager Pancho Ferraro only made one change, veteran Caminero taking the place of Ciric, who will be out for several weeks with an injury.

Valladolid were the better team in the first half, with Cañizares tipping a shot from Antonio López over the bar halfway through the first half and saving from Sales near the break. Valencia's only reply was a Kily header which went just wide. Ayala was sticking closely to Kaviedes, and a strong tackle in the penalty area brought cries for a penalty for the home side. However a similar incident involving Jesús a few minutes later resulted in the Valladolid midfielder picking up a yellow card for diving. The visitors improved in the second half, and an Ayala header was cleared off the line by Antonio López. Ilie came on for another run about, but was lacking match practise and missed a relatively easy header a couple of minutes later.

With ten minutes to go Eusebio, playing his 500th first division match, fired a volley in from outside of the area, but Cañizares got behind it well and blocked the danger. Referee Puentes Leira sent off Jesús six minutes from the end after giving him a second yellow card, and with their opponents down to ten men, Valencia almost snatched a win when Bizzarri stopped Angulo's volley from point blank range. With Deportivo winning, the result means that Valencia drop two points behind them to second, still a couple of points clear of Real Madrid. Valladolid rise a place or two more to twelfth, their recent crisis apparently behind them.