Valencia 1 - Valladolid 1

Valencia: Cañizares; Garrido (Canobbio 63'), Marchena (Momo 77'), Pellegrino, Carboni; Albelda, Baraja; Jorge López, Aimar, Vicente (Mista 75'); Oliveira. 4-2-3-1.
Valladolid: Bizzarri; Torres Gómez, Peña, Caminero, Marcos; Jesús (Ciric 77'), Ricchetti; Fernando Sales, Sousa (Jonathan 55'), Chema; Makukula (Oscar González 70'). 4-2-3-1.

Goals:
0-1. 24. Sousa. Ran on to Makukula through ball to beat Cañizares.
1-1. 72. Aimar. Picked up ball on half way line and ran through to score.

The match between Valencia and Valladolid was overshadowed by the possible move of Ayala to Real Madrid, and the Argentine international withdrew from the squad for this match with depression even though club president Jaime Ortí said he was not for sale. The possible move was the last straw for many fans, who had booed Ortí at the team's presentation for letting star players go and not bringing in replacements of the same quality, and there was an air of nervousness right from the start.

To make things worse though, the visitors took the lead midway through the first half when Makukula led a charge out of defence, and the ball fell to Sousa for him to round Cañizares and score. A few minutes later Valencia had a chance to redeem themselves when referee Ramírez Domínguez ruled that Marcos had fouled Jorge López in the area, but Bizzarri leapt to make a spectacular save from Oliveira's spot kick.

Valladolid closed things down after the break, bringing on an extra defender Jonathan for Sousa, and Valencia's only chance was a header from Oliveira which grazed the crossbar. But with the fans starting to despair, Aimar picked up the ball in midfield and waltzed past three defenders before firing a shot through the hands of the otherwise impeccable Bizzarri. The keeper made up for the mistake though near the end when he blocked a header from Aimar at point blank range. Valladolid had come away with a valuable point, and the home fans made their opinions clear as the players walked off the pitch.