Valencia (1) 1 - Arsenal (2) 0

Valencia: Cañizares; Angloma, Ayala (Djukic 50'), Pellegrino, Carboni; Angulo (Aimar 68'), Mendieta, Baraja, Vicente; Juan Sánchez (Zahovic 72'), Carew. 4-4-2.
Arsenal: Seaman; Dixon, Adams, Keown, Cole; Pires (Kanu 76'), Vieira, Lauren, Parlour (Ljungberg 46'); Wiltord, Henry. 4-4-2.

Goals:
1-0. 75. Carew. Headed down past Seaman after cross from Angloma on right.

A late goal by Carew put Valencia through to the semi-finals for the second year in a row. It was always going to be a low scoring affair, with Valencia looking for the one goal victory which would put them through on the away goal rule, and Arsenal defending their first leg lead with tenacious defending. Héctor Cúper decided to leave Aimar on the bench at the start as he had not fully recovered from his groin strain, giving himself the option of bringing him on in the second half if needed.

Carew gave an early warning of his intentions when he broke free and shot wide with a quarter of an hour gone, and Seaman was called upon to push a second attempt by the big Norwegian forward around the post a few minutes later. Arsenal replied with shots by Wiltord and Henry which Cañizares saved comfortably as Vieira in particular started to take control of the midfield. Wenger replaced Parlour with Ljungberg at half time, and Carboni was close to committing a penalty on the Swede soon after the restart.

With four minutes gone after the interval Valencia's goalscorer from the first leg Ayala left the field on a stretcher after hurting his back in a hard tackle, Djukic taking his place in defence. Henry shot wide under late pressure from Pellegrino, and Keown headed clear a dangerous cross by Sánchez at the other end. The Arsenal defender was lucky though not to give away a penalty when he tripped an on-form Mendieta in the penalty box a few minutes later.

Cúper played his trump cards, bringing on Aimar and then Zahovic, and with a quarter of an hour to go Carew got himself another important goal with a header down past the outstretched Seaman from Angloma's cross. It was enough to take Valencia on to a semi-final tie with another English club Leeds United in two weeks time, and for once the crowd applauded Cúper's efforts. They hope to go one better than last year, and may face the same opponents if they reach the final, Real Madrid. Spanish football is still on the up.