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Valencia 1 - Bayern Munich 1 (Bayern win 4-5 on penalties) Valencia:
Cañizares; Angloma, Ayala (Djukic 90'), Pellegrino,Carboni;
Mendieta, Aimar (Albelda 46'), Kily González; Juan Sánchez
(Zahovic 66'), Carew. 4-4-2. Goals: Penalty shoot out: Paulo Sergio (over bar); Mendieta (goal); Salihamidzic (goal); Carew (goal); Zickler (goal); Zahovic (saved Kahn); Andersson (saved Cañizares); Carboni (tipped onto crossbar by Kahn); Effenberg (Goal); Baraja (goal); Lizarazu (goal); Kily González (goal); Linke (goal); Pellegrino (saved Kahn). Valencia lost their second Champions League final in a row in the cruellest way possible, from the penalty shoot out. With the game level after 120 minutes of football it all boiled down to the final lottery, but man-of-the-match Bayern keeper Kahn saved three of Valencia's seven kicks to give his side their first European trophy in 25 years. After key players such as Piojo López, Gerard and Farinós left the club following last year's final defeat by Real Madrid, Héctor Cúper's men were not expected to go all the way this season. However they fought their way through to be Spain's only representative against all the odds with a relatively new team. Cúper, who also guided Mallorca to the last ever Cup Winners cup final two years ago, was able to count on a full squad for this game having rested ten of his starting line up in the league match against Bilbao at the weekend. The only doubt was whether Aimar or Albelda would start the game, but in the end he opted for the Argentinian in what for him was an attacking line up. They were up against the pride of Germany, a Bayern Munich side who had already taken revenge on Manchester United, who beat them in the final two years ago, and Real Madrid, who knocked them out at the semi-final stage last year. Club captain Stefan Effenberg returned to the team after missing the last game with Real Madrid through suspension, although Jeremies failed to recover in time and was replaced by Canada's Hargreaves. The San Siro stadium in Milan was full to bursting, but so too was Valencia's Mestalla stadium, where another 40,000 fans turned up to watch the game on two giant screens. And things couldn't have started better for the Spaniards, with Dutch referee Dick Jol awarding a dubious penalty in the second minute, presumably for hand ball, against a Bayern defender who was lying on the ground as Mendieta tried to wrest the ball away from him. The Valencia captain kept his nerve to beat Kahn from the penalty spot for the earliest goal in a European championship final. Three minutes later though Jol pointed to the spot at the other end when Angloma tripped Effenberg as he powered through. Scholl stepped up to take the kick, but Cañizares stood his ground to block his shot and clear the danger. Bayern stepped up the pace after that, pinning Velencia back in their half as they frantically came looking for the equaliser, with Elber, Scholl and Sagnol all shooting wide. Valencia's only reply was a shot from Carew five minutes from half time, and when they did come forward they fell too easily into the offside trap of Bayern's well organised defence. Both managers realised they needed to change things at half time, with Cúper recognising that he was losing the battle in midfield and bringing on Albelda, and Hitzfeld replacing Sagnol with Jancker to add an extra man up front. Within five minutes the big German forward had made the difference, bustling in to Carboni as a corner came over from the left. The veteran defender fell to the ground under his challenge, the ball hitting his hand as he went down, and Jol ignored the foul by Jancker and awarded another penalty to Bayern. When the protests died down Effenberg clinically whipped the ball wide of Cañizares and in to the corner of the net, and it was back to all square. Cúper brought on Zahovic for Sánchez, but the Slovenian couldn't get past Kahn as Carew laid the ball to him from the right five minutes from the end. In the last minute of time added on Jancker gave the fans a fright with a shot which went just wide, but soon afterwards Jol signalled the end of the 90 minutes and the game went into extra time, with the first goal to decide the winners under the recently introduced golden goal rule. Djukic came on for the injured Ayala, depriving Cúper of a more creative change such as the introduction of Vicente, with Hitzfeld saving his last two changes for later on. With both sides not wanting to lose though, the 30 minutes went by without anyone scoring, although both Cañizares and Kahn were forced into good saves. Valencia were let off the hook eighteen minutes in when Kily González handled in the area, Jol presumably ruling that it was accidental even though it was a more obvious foul than either of the earlier penalty incidents. Then the game ended, and the nerve racking shoot out began. Twice Valencia went in front as the first round of five penalties each ran it's course, with Paulo Sergio shooting over and Cañizares saving from Andersson, but both times Kahn kept Bayern in the game stopping Zahovic's kick and then somehow tipping Carboni's shot on to the crossbar. Then it went to sudden death, and everyone's thoughts turned to Djukic, whose penalty miss in the last minute of the last match three or four years ago when playing for Deportivo cost his side the league title. Cúper decided to send out Pellegrino instead, but Kahn's figure was filling the whole goal by then, and the Argentinian defender could find no way through. Valencia's dreams were shattered once again, and Kahn gentlemanly went to console the sobbing Cañizares as the Valencia players sat around in their own private hells. They have to pick themselves up quickly though, as their place in the next Champions League is not at all safe, with two spots to be shared between three teams, and matches against Deportivo and Barcelona to come. With Cúper set to leave as well as several key players, time may have run out for Valencia. The whole of Spain cried with them. |
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