stad / yer: nuevo mestalla stadyumu (valencia) tarih: 12-11-2002 seyirci: 20.000 hakem: georgios kasnaferis (yunanistan)
valencia (teknik direktör: rafa benitez) andres palop, javier garrido, miroslav dukiç, carlos marchena, fabio aurelio rodrigues, gonzalo de los santos (david sanchez 87), miguel angel angulo, cristian “kily” gonzalez, miguel angel ferrer “mista”, juan sanchez (david navarro 88'), salvador ballesta “salva” (miguel albiol 71')
spartak moskova (teknik direktör: oleg romantsev) maksim levitskij, yurij kovtun, moises moura, valeri abramidze, igor mitreski (samuel ogunsanya 77'), vladimir beschastnykh, artjom bezrodnyj (marcelo jose da silva 46'), dmitrij kudrjashov (aleksandr sonin 62'), maksim kalinichenko, aleksandr pavlenko, aleksandr danishevskij
yardımcı hakemler: dimitrios groutsis (gre), georgios taprantzis (gre)
4. hakem: ioakim efthimiadis (gre)
valencia: andrés palop (gk), fábio aurélio, miroslav djukić, salva ballesta (dk. 71 miguel albiol), miguel ángel angulo(c), juan sánchez (dk. 88 david navarro), carlos marchena, kily gonzález, mista, gonzalo de los santos (dk. 87 david sánchez), javier garrido
yedekler: santiago cañizares(gk), david albelda, amedeo carboni, pablo aimar
teknik direktör: rafael benítez (esp)
spartak moskva: maxym levitsky (gk), yuri kovtun, vladimir beschastnykh(c), dmitri koudriashov (dk. 62 aleksandr sonin), maxym kalynychenko, aleksandr danishevski, artem bezrodny (dk. 46 marcelo silva), aleksandr pavlenko, igor mitreski (dk. 77 samuel ogunsanya), moisés, valeri abramidze
yedekler: stanislav cherchesov(gk), dmitri torbinski, okon essien, dmitri khlestov
teknik direktör: oleg romantsev (rus)
goller: 1-0 juan sánchez dk. 38 2-0 juan sánchez dk. 46 3-0 fábio aurélio dk. 78
sarı kartlar: dk. 63 javier garrido (valencia) dk. 43 dmitri koudriashov, dk. 49 igor mitreski, dk. 58 valeri abramidze, dk. 62 yuri kovtun, dk. 78 samuel ogunsanya (spartak moskva)
valencia cruise past sorry spartak published: tuesday 12 november 2002, 22.00cet
valencia cf 3-0 spartak moskva group b winners valencia ease into the second phase.
valencia cf, fielding a second-string eleven, defeated spartak moskva 3-0 at the mestalla stadium in this uefa champions league group b encounter, thanks to two goals from striker juan sánchez and a late fabio aurelio free-kick. the resulted meant the visitors became the third team who have failed to notch a single point in a champions league campaign.
fringe players valencia were guaranteed to finish top of group b no matter what the result, and coach rafael benítez used the match as an opportunity to give some of his fringe players a chance to impress. spanish international striker salva was given a rare start alongside argentinian winger kily gonzález.
no mood for defeat however, valencia were in no mood to be beaten, and the hosts dominated the first-half possession. despite keeping the ball for long spells at a time, they struggled to create any clear-cut chances against a stubborn spartak defence, admirably marshalled by the veteran defender yuri kovtun.
kovtun impressive if kovtun was impressive in defence, spartak were short of inspiration going forward. vladimir beschastnykh looked composed as he tried to orchestrate the play for the visitors, but spartak threatened only sporadically.
excellent through ball valencia went close to taking the lead on 17 minutes as mista picked out sánchez. the diminutive striker hit his shot well, but it came back off maxym levitsky’s right-hand post.
sánchez scores sánchez was not to be denied however, and it was his header, on 38 minutes, that gave valencia a deserved lead. angulo seized on to a short free-kick and his curling cross from the right was met by sánchez at the near post, who glanced a downward header into the net.
sánchez strikes again spartak desperately needed to alter things after the break, and coach oleg romantsev brought on brazilian midfielder silva to try and add some spark to his struggling side. the change did not have the desired effect, however, as valencia immediately doubled their lead. fabio aurelio’s pass from the left picked out mista in the area. the valencia playmaker then cut the ball back for sánchez, and he doubled his tally, shooting firmly past levitsky from ten metres.
two-goal cushion the two-goal cushion gave the hosts the luxury of being able to play expansively, and spartak soon looked overrun. mista was at the heart of a succession of slick passing moves, and spartak were reduced to damage limitation.
elegant back-heel sánchez almost completed his hat-trick on 75 minutes. javier garrido’s fine overlapping run resulted in a low cross across the face of goal and sánchez's elegant back-heel deceived levitsky, but drifted wide of the far post.
late third valencia finally grabbed their third on 78 minutes. the hosts had won a free-kick on the very edge of the area and fabio aurelio, the only regular first-team player to start, drilled a low left-footed free-kick at goal. levitsky, as if to sum up spartak's champions league campaign, could only palm the ball into his own net.