Manchester Utd 1 - Valencia 1

Man Utd: Barthez; G.Neville, Brown, Stam, Silvestre; Beckham, Keane, Scholls, Giggs (Butt 15'); Sheringham, Cole (Solskjaer 62'). 4-4-2.
Valencia: Cañizares; Angloma, Ayala, Pellegrino, Carboni; Angulo (Juan Sánchez 64'), Mendieta, Baraja, Kily González (Víctor 75'); Aimar (Albelda 88'), Carew. 4-4-2.

Goals:
1-0. 12. Cole. Interchanged passes with Giggs and placed shot wide of Cañizares.
1-1. 86. Brown (own goal). Turned ball past Barthez after cross from Vicente.

Group A league table:
Manchester Utd..... 8 points
Valencia................... 6 points
Sturm Graz............... 6 points
Panathinaikos........ 1 point

Valencia clashed swords again with Manchester United just a week after drawing with them at Mestalla, and once again squeezed a point out of the English side thanks to a late own goal by Wes Brown. It was a well deserved draw in the end, Valencia having fought back to dominate much of the game after falling behind to an early Andy Cole goal. Both teams line up with the same eleven players who started the game six days before, Valencia having rested key players such as Mendieta and Aimar at the weekend and United not even having played, being already eliminated from the English cup. United's intentions were clear from the start, Stam holding his ground early on against Valencia's new star signing Aimar (dubbed 'wonderboy' by the English press), who seemed to be half his size. Kily almost surprised Barthez, shooting over the bar after Aimar put him through, but in the twelfth minute United were ahead, Giggs and Cole slicing through the defence like a knife through butter for the striker to coolly place the ball wide of Cañizares.

Giggs had to be replaced by Butt shortly afterwards which left the home side short of new ideas, and Valencia came out looking for goals. However Mendieta and Carew were off target with their efforts, and when Aimar did get through on the wing he was incorrectly ruled offside by the referee. Scoring chances virtually dried up after the break, with the battle for possession taking place in midfield. Solskjaer came on for United and Juan Sánchez for Valencia, and Sánchez was unable to direct a diving header on target under pressure from the defence. But Valencia needed a result more than Manchester, and after Scholes cleared off the line from a Baraja header, substitute Vicente got free on the left wing and fired in a low centre. United defender Brown stretched to turn it behind for a corner, but he reached it late and could only steer it past his own keeper. The 66,700 crowd were silent as Cúper brought off the wonder boy to use up a bit more time, and the match ended with honours shared. United still top the table, but they need a couple of points more to be safe. Sturm Graz's victory at Panathinaikos complicates things a bit more for them and for Valencia, and the Ché's now need at least to draw during their next visit to Austria in a fortnight's time. Both Valencia and Manchester should qualify though on paper.