Manchester United's Champions League Group H campaign ended in defeat as they lost 2-1 to Valencia at the Mestalla this evening.
The hosts took the lead on 17 minutes when Carlos Soler volleyed into the bottom corner following a poor clearing header from Phil Jones.
Jones's night would get worse after the break as he scored a clumsy own goal, knocking the ball past Sergio Romero who had raced off his line to leave the net vacant.
Marcus Rashford pulled one back for the Red Devils with an 87th-minute header but it was not enough for Jose Mourinho's men to capitalise on Juventus's defeat to Young Boys and claim top spot in Group H.
Relive how the action unfolded in Spain with Sports Mole's minute-by-minute updates below.
Unlike Liverpool and Spurs from last night, Manchester United will not need to rely on gameweek-six drama to book their place in the last 16 of the Champions League. The Red Devils are already through to the knockout stages as they travel to Valencia for their final Group H game this evening...
With a little bit of luck, the Red Devils could even steal top spot from Juventus and earn themselves - theoretically at least - a favourable last-16 draw. They currently sit second in the Group H table, two points behind Juve who play Young Boys in Switzerland tonight. Any slip up from the Italians would open the door for United who have the superior head-to-head record courtesy of their fantasic win in Turin.
Valencia's fate is already sealed too, with third place and a second chance in the Europa League secured thanks to their four-point buffer over bottom of the pile Young Boys, so we are expecting to see both teams rotate heavily tonight. Let's find out exactly how much with the team news from the Mestalla...
VALENCIA: Jaume; Lato, Diakhaby, Ruben Vezo, Piccini; Cheryshev, Parejo, Kondogbia, Soler; Mina, Batshuayi
Subs: Neto, Garay, Kang-In, Wass, Coquelin, Torres, Rodrigo
Subs: Neto, Garay, Kang-In, Wass, Coquelin, Torres, Rodrigo
MAN UNITED: Romero; Valencia, Jones, Bailly, Rojo; Fred, Fellaini, Pogba; Mata, Pereira, Lukaku
Subs: Grant, Young, Garner, Herrera, Lingard, Greenwood, Rashford
Subs: Grant, Young, Garner, Herrera, Lingard, Greenwood, Rashford
Jose Mourinho makes eight changes to the side that beat Fulham 4-1 at the weekend, with David de Gea and Nemanja Matic given the night off ahead of Sunday's Premier League showdown with Liverpool. Paul Pogba does start having been dropped to the bench for United's last two matches.
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Youngsters James Garner and Mason Greenwood have both travelled with the United squad to Spain but start among the substitutes as Mourinho opts to give some of his more established squad players minutes. Summer signing Fred is called in from the cold for only his fourth start in two months while there are rare starts for Andreas Pereira, as part of the attacking three, Marcos Rojo at left-back, and Sergio Romero in goal.
United are in the midst of a defensive injury crisis with Chris Smalling and Diogo Dalot having joined Victor Lindelof, Matteo Darmian and Luke Shaw in the treatment room this week. A boost for the visitors is the return of Eric Bailly who missed the Southampton and Fulham matches with an ankle problem.
Only Phil Jones, Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku are retained from the team which started against the Cottagers, although Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford are available in reserve. A side strain keeps Anthony Martial at home but there is hope that the in-form Frenchman will be fit to go at Anfield.
Mourinho's counterpart Marcelino matches the United manager with eight changes from Saturday's 1-1 draw with Sevilla. Defender Mouctar Diakhaby is rewarded for his injury-time equaliser and there are also opportunities for the likes of Denis Cheryshev and on-loan Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi.
Valencia announced today that winger Goncalo Guedes, who lit up what was an otherwise dull reverse fixture at Old Trafford, will undergo a hernia operation so he will not feature tonight. In his absence the danger man for the hosts is probably striker Santiago Mina who has six goals in 13 games this season.
Most of Valencia's big guns are on the bench tonight, including Spain forward Rodrigo, highly-rated left-back Jose Gaya and Argentine defender Ezequiel Garay. Francis Coquelin may not fall into that category but the former Arsenal player has been a regular in Valencia's La Liga side this campaign.
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Valencia have failed to score in six of their past eight games in the Champions League. Three of their four goals in this season's competition came in the 3-1 home win over Young Boys, who are one of just three clubs to have found the net fewer times than Valencia in the group stage, the others being Monaco and AEK Athens.
In fact, Group H is the lowest-scoring group in this season's competition, with 20 goals across its 10 games thus far. The maths wizards out there will have calculated that is an average of two goals per game, while the entertainers of Manchester City-topped Group F have scored 42 at an average of 4.2, so more than double!
The 0-0 draw in Old Trafford's reverse fixture is one of only three scoreless draws in this season's group stage, along with Galatasarary's stalemate with Schalke 04 and the gameweek one fixture between Red Star Belgrade and Napoli. Nil-nil has been a common scoreline for Valencia this season - they have had four such results in total.
Should United fail to score at the Mestalla, it will be the first time since 2008-09 against Villarreal that they have failed to score both home and away against a group stage opponent. That is even more remarkable when you consider that their attack that season consisted of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov.
United's 1-0 victory against Young Boys in their last game was the 17th time that Jose Mourinho has won by that scoreline in the Champions League - only Carlo Ancelotti (24) and Sir Alex Ferguson (21) have done so more often. The solid 1-0 win has been lost from the Portuguese's repertoire this season though, that United's sole win of that nature.
Valencia and Manchester United are meeting for the eighth time in the Champions League - with the Red Devils never having lost. Their only defeat to the Spanish side came in the second leg of a first-round 1982-83 UEFA Cup tie which Valencia also won on aggregate. There have been five draws out of those eight matches.
The past six competitive meetings between the sides have seen just five goals scored and four of their nine encounters have ended goalless. I realise at this point that I'm not exactly doing a great job of selling this match to a neutral but you can't rewrite history - these two teams just aren't in the business of giving us European classics!
The Red Devils are looking to win all three of their away games in the group stages for the first time since 2010-11, when, wouldn't you know it, Valencia were again one of their opponents, alongside Rangers and Turkish outfit Bursaspor. Sir Alex Ferguson's side would go on to lose to a brilliant Barcelona in that year's final at Wembley.
While his domestic form continues to frustrate even his most ardent supporters, Pogba has been influential in United's progress to the next phase of the Champions League. The Frenchman has been directly involved in 50% of United's goals in the competition, with two goals, one assist, and a star turn against his former club Juventus.
However, it does seem more and more likely that Old Trafford is only big enough for one of Mourinho or Pogba though. Eladio Parames - a former spokesman for Mourinho told Portuguese newspaper Record this week that the Special One didn't even want to sign Pogba for United but was persuaded for commercial reasons.
Another United player that has found himself out of favour under Mourinho this season is Eric Bailly, who did not play for two months after a horror showing against Newcastle United but has been back in the first-team frame recently due to Lindelof's injury. Bailly was definitely a Mourinho-approved signing and yet the United manager appears to have run out of patience with the Ivorian, with reports claiming that he is ready to go back in for Tottenham's Toby Alderweireld when the transfer window reopens in January.
It was Valencia manager Marcelino - then at Villarreal - who helped inspire the form that brought Bailly to Mourinho's attention. The 53-year-old has tipped Bailly to make his United career a success if he can stay injury free, telling BBC Sport: "I was so lucky to have Eric as a footballer, as a player. He's an extraordinary player and an extraordinary person. I think he's playing really well for United when he plays, but because of his injuries he's not getting the luck he deserves."
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One player who has not received the Marcelino rub is Michy Batshuayi, with the on-loan Chelsea striker having returned a disappointing three goals in 20 appearances for Los Che this season. According to Goal.com, Marcelino has admitted that the Belgian's loan could be ended in January, which could be good news for a handful of Premier League clubs who will be wanting to add a forward next month.
Around 10 minutes until kickoff at the Mestalla. Tonight we also have coverage from the Etihad Stadium where Manchester City are hosting Hoffenheim and will be hoping to wrap up top spot in Group F. Elsewhere, CSKA Moscow have already caused a huge shock by beating Real Madrid 3-0 at the Bernabeu!
While they cannot boast of Madrid's stature in the European game, Valencia are viewed as one of the traditional Spanish powerhouses, and yet their domestic form this season contradicts that. They are 15th in the La Liga table and only two recent wins have lifted them away from relegation trouble.
Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid - that is a list of potential opponents in the last 16 if United finish second in this group. If they can somehow overhaul Juventus tonight the next task becomes a whole lot easier - Schalke, Ajax, Lyon among others.
We know they have never lost to Valencia but United's record in Spain leaves a lot to be desired...
Manchester United's record against Spanish sides in European competitions make for grim reading...
Matches played: 53
Wins: 13
Draws: 22
Losses: 18#ChampionsLeague #VALMUN pic.twitter.com/n4mlZZZcq0 — Sportstar (@sportstarweb) December 12, 2018
PREDICTION: While it is not quite a dead rubber, I fear the relative lack of importance to this game might see the latest edition of Valencia vs. Man United fall into the same category of its predecessors - a low-scoring grind of a match. I'll back United to nick it 1-0 but they may need Rashford and Lingard off the bench to do that.
KICKOFF: The action is underway at the Mestalla, which could well be hosting its last Champions League game with a big step having been taken this week to secure a move to a new stadium which has been in the pipeline for over a decade. Tonight's officials - with Georgi Kabakov in the middle - are from Bulgaria.
Carlos Soler, one of the three Valencia players retained from the weekend, gets to the right byline and delivers a low cross which was made difficult for Romero by the run of Batshuayi across him. The Argentine, protecting an unfamilar back four tonight, jumps on the ball at the second attempt.
Soler is again involved for the hosts, cutting inside Rojo with ease and teeing up Parejo for a shot which is blocked by Jones. Kondogbia picks up the second ball and drives towards goal but can't work it into a shooting opportunity on his left foot. Decent start by Valencia, who look a threat down their right.
United get forward for the first time with the attack coming to an end when a ball over the top for Pogba is overhit. Their cheif creators tonight - Juan Mata and Andreas Pereira - are both formerly of Valencia. Mata made his Champions League debut for Valencia 12 years ago this week, against Chelsea.
Fellaini knocks a pass into the right channel for Lukaku to run onto but the Belgian is flanked by Valencia's centre-back pair and is squeezed off the ball. Fellaini appears to be operating as the deepest of United's central midfielders with Pogba and Fred in particular getting closer to the front three.
YELLOW CARD! The Bulgarian official goes to his pocket early but is given no option at all by Antonio Valencia who goes crunching into young full-back Toni Lato, catching him late and high by the right touchline.
Lato remains off the field for treatment and Valencia are down to 10 men for now. This is only the 21-year-old's fourth appearance of the season so he will be disappointed if it ends as early as this.
Like Soler on the other wing, Cheryshev has made a bright start for Valencia. The Russian was one of the stars of last summer's World Cup but his club career has been stuttering for several seasons. He seems determined to make an impression tonight when he knows a few eyes will be watching.
GOAL! VALENCIA 1-0 MAN UTD (CARLOS SOLER)
Valencia take the lead and it is a really tidy finish from Soler who has started this game very well. A cross from Piccini is headed away by Jones but only as far as Soler, who controls it on the inside right of the box and drills a volley into the bottom corner. Mourinho will wonder how he had so much space...
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That is Valencia's first-ever Champions League goal against United at the Mestalla, on their fifth attempt. It is only their fifth goal in the competition this season and Soler has two of them.
LATEST: It has not been a good 20 minutes for Manchester, with the blue side also trailing early on at home to Hoffeinheim courtesy of Andrej Kramaric's penalty. Remember, City could still be knocked off top spot in Group F if they lose and Lyon beat Shakhtar Donetsk.
Mina makes a run in beyond Jones and gets on the end of a pass from Parejo but a poor piece of control sees any potential chance go begging. The 23-year-old striker's six goals this season have been scored across three games, so he is not the most consistent but when you catch him on a good day...!
The build-up from the Red Devils has been very pedestrian so far. Lukaku is not the livliest striker on his day and both Mata and Pereira favour coming short so there have not been many options for the United midfielders ahead of them. That is why, 25 minutes in, the visitors are yet to have a shot on goal.
SHOT! United fashion their first chance as Mata anticipates the direction of a poor clearing header and meets the dropping ball with a left-footed volley. It is well blocked by Mouctar Diakhaby at the expense of a corner, but a couple of United players wanted more, claiming the defender had used his arm...
YELLOW CARD! For a game with little riding on it, this match has a bit of needle. Lato has taken revenge on Valencia for that earlier challenge, and Bailly has also entered the book for leaving his foot in on goalkeeper Jaume Domenech when challenging in the air. The Valencia stopper is down clutching his ribs but should be fine.
CHANCE! It really should be 2-0 to Valencia, with Batshuayi squandering a glorious opportunity. The hosts are allowed to advance the whole way down the right without a challenge and Piccini's cross couldn't be more perfect for the Belgian to head home from eight yards out, but he somehow knocks it over.
CHANCE! Another decent opportunity for the Spaniards as United make a mess of clearing a corner, with the ball forced back into the danger area by Valencia from where Diakhaby pokes wide while being wrestled by Fellaini. It was not a penalty for the hosts, but enough of an intervention to put Diakhaby off.
Paul Pogba is a relieved man as he looks to his right to see the flag raised, after missing unmarked from inside the six-yard box. However, the assistant referee has done him a big favour, as the Frenchman was actually onside from Fellaini's knockdown, only to slice horribly wide on the volley.
Paul Pogba is a relieved man as he looks to his right to see the flag raised, after missing unmarked from inside the six-yard box. However, the assistant referee has done him a big favour, as the Frenchman was actually onside from Fellaini's knockdown, only to slice horribly wide on the volley.
Valencia look a threat every time they go forward, especially down the right wing where Rojo's rustiness is being badly exploited. Piccini and Mina work it nicely between them to set up Parejo to run onto a shot 12 yards from goal, but Bailly throws himself in front of Romero to make a vital block.
LATEST: There could yet be a twist at the top of Group H because leaders Juventus are trailing 1-0 to Young Boys. United will kick themselves at this missed opportunity if things end that way in Bern and they continue to play the way they are at the Mestalla in the second half.
Mata looks the most likely to make something happen for United but is off target with this effort from 25 yards out. The Spaniard scored 34 goals in in four years at Valencia and would love to mark his return to the Mestalla with a goal, particularly if it turns out to be his last visit to this famous stadium.
SHOT! Cheryshev feeds the ball inside to Mina whose run was not followed by Fred. The forward slips but still manages to find Batshuayi with his pass from which the on-loan Chelsea striker fires wide of Romero's goal. It was not an easy chance, off balance and under pressure, but he should have done better.
United are scrambling in their own box to ensure they don't fall further behind before the interval. This is the second string of a Valencia side who who are 15th in La Liga and at times in this half the Red Devils have made them look like peak-Barcelona. Food for thought for Jose Mourinho in the dugout...
HALF TIME: VALENCIA 1-0 MAN UTD
United are one down at the break, and are arguably lucky it is not worse. Valencia, who are the lowest scorers in La Liga this season, have been a constant threat, cutting them apart regularly with quick and direct play down the wings. Meanwhile, Mourinho's boys have not had a single shot on target.
It does seem United are paying for lots of players being short of game time and being used out of position...
Marcos Rojo is not a LB, Marouane Fellaini is not a DM, Juan Mata is not a RW, Andres Pereira is not a LW
Many players played out of position! Most of these players are match rust.#MUFC @utdxtra #VALMUN — Tosin Akingba Manchester United (@venusakingba) December 12, 2018
LATEST: What will be even more frustrating for United fans is that this could be a huge missed opportunity, with Juventus 1-0 behind to Young Boys in Switzerland. Remember, if Juve lose and United win tonight, the Red Devils would leapfrog them to the top of Group H.
Elsewhere, Man City have equalised against Hoffenheim through Leroy Sane and are on course to finish top of Group F.
BENCH WATCH: Mourinho was clearly holding some players back for the trip to Liverpool on Sunday, but might that Juventus scoreline tempt him into throwing Rashford and Lingard on early? United's attack has lacked movement and pace and they both offer that in spades.
Valencia were a surprisingly good watch during that first half, with their fringe players clearly looking to make the most of the opportunity handed to them by Marcelino, unlike those in United red. Having said that, it has been first-team regular and goalscorer Carlos Soler who has been their star man.
The players are emerging for the second half and Mourinho is going to make a change, although it is Ashley Young who is ready to be introduced. I assume that will be a straight swap for Rojo who has been uncomfortable at left-back, and often outnumbered by the Soler-Piccini double act.
KICKOFF: The action resumes at the Mestalla and indeed that is the substitution that United have made - Young on for Rojo. Immediately there seems more purpose to their play but a Mata dribble is halted at the edge of the box.
GOAL! VALENCIA 2-0 MAN UTD (PHIL JONES, og)
It is a disastrous start to the second half for United, and in particular Phil Jones whose just scored an absolute pearler of an own goal. It is poor defending initially with Valencia allowed to slip a pass through the sizeable gap between United's centre-backs, and although Jones does well to keep up with the run Batshuayi, he knocks his slide tackle beyond Romero who had rushed off his line to leave the goal vacant. It is the type of thing that seems to happen to Phil Jones, and he's lucky this one is too late to make this year's Christmas blooper dvds.
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It is a long way back for United now and I can't see them scoring three considering how little they have created thus far. Only a win could unseat Juventus so now it could be an evening for Garner and Greenwood rather than Rashford and Lingard.
SUBSTITUTION: Lato was in the wars during the first half and the young full-back has taken another knock now, signalling to the bench that this one will be the end of his night. The vastly experienced Garay is his replacement in the Valencia defence.
Another fluid Valencia move yields an opening for Cheryshev down the left, with the Russian winger unleashing a shot from 20 yards out which is deflected behind for a corner. Garay, just onto the pitch, is a big threat from the dead ball and has made his way forward.
Fred has just sent a simple 20-yard pass to Young straight out of play, which sums up his evening and much of his United career so far. The £50m signing has not brought the right balance to this United midfield but he alone can't be blamed for that, so many of them are playing poorly.
CHANCE! Jones is inches from getting his head to a corner which is parried by Domenech, with Bailly blazing the loose ball over the crossbar. The Ivorian didn't have much time before he was closed down, but that would have been a decent chance had it fallen to someone with more shooting prowess.
SUBSTITUTION: Mourinho is not giving this game up yet, bringing on Rashford for Fred whose aforementioned stray pass was his death sentence for the night. Pereira will move into central midfield, a role in which he shone for tonight's opponents on loan last season.
Rashford has his first chance to run at the Valencia defence but Piccini shows good pace to keep up with the substitute, and then the confidence to run around him and start an attack. The Italian full-back, recently capped for the first time, has been very impressive thus far, at both ends of the pitch.
SAVE! Romero is quickly off his line to block from Mina who had found space in between Jones and Young in the right channel.
Fellaini continues to be used as the deepest of the three United midfielders which is a role I - and many others more qualified than me to say - have always felt has never suited him. I wonder how long it will be until Mourinho uses the Belgian as the big battering ram which makes him a feared opponent?
SUBSTITUTION: What a moment this is for 18-year-old midfielder Ferran Torres, who replaces Denis Cheryshev to face Manchester United on the biggest stage in club football. He nearly makes an immediate impact too, taking on a shot from 25 yards which dips just over the bar.
SUBSTITUTION: Both managers make their final change, with Spain forward Rodrigo coming on for Mina, and Lingard replacing Lukaku for United, a signal from Mourinho that now he's given up the chase of three points and already has one eye on that huge Liverpool clash this weekend.
LATEST: To rub further salt into United wounds, Young Boys are now 2-0 up against Juventus, with a second goal for Guillaume Hoarau. A great result for the Swiss outfit as it stands, but a massive missed opportunity for the Red Devils ahead of Monday's last-16 Champions League draw.
SHOT! Now playing through the middle, Rashford drives forward at pace and has nobody for company so he chooses to shoot, although all of the fizz was taken out of the effort by a slight deflection. Nevertheless, that is United's first shot on target, and it has taken them 73 minutes. It has been another poor display.
SHOT! Finally Domenech is getting some work to do in the Valencia goal. Pereira is not closed down and he accepts the invite to shoot from 30 yards out, hitting it very sweetly and Domench has to be alert to push the ball away from the top corner.
United are fortunate things didn't just get worse with Valencia getting away with a blatant second yellow for blocking the run of Ruben Vezo with a high arm, the Bulgarian referee showing mercy on this occasion.
SHOT! Pogba has not done nearly enough to prove a point to his manager, but the Frenchman does well in isolation here, skipping away from a couple of challenges and letting fly on his left foot from 20 yards out. The effort has some power behind it but is straight at Domenech who clutches safely to his chest.
The visitors are probably enjoying their best spell of the game thus far, certainly in terms of territory in the Valencia half. Their captain makes a rare run forward from right-back and delivers a decent cross which is just a little too high for Rashford to make clean contact with his header.
Rashford becomes the third United player to be cautioned tonight following a tangle with Ruben Vezo.
SHOT! Pogba is coming to the part now albeit far too late. He pops up on the left this time to collect the ball Young and attempt a dipping shot from distance which keeps Domenech busy but does not seriously trouble him.
GOAL! VALENCIA 2-1 MAN UTD (MARCUS RASHFORD)
United have pulled one back through Marcus Rashford's second goal of the week. It is a good move from the visitors, Lingard doing well to keep the ball in by the byline and allow Young to tee up Rashford, who gets between two Valencia defenders to head home from eight yards out.
CLOSE! Batshuayi goes close at the other end with a 20-yard shot from a standing start which didn't have quite enough curl on it to bend inside the post.
CHANCE! What a chance for United to level! Pogba lifts a pass over the defence and Mata has an over-the-shoulder volley from 10 yards to set up a thrilling stoppage-time finish, but he completely miscues the shot, scuffing it wide. It is a difficult skill but the technically-gifted Spaniard would expect to score from there.
FULL TIME: VALENCIA 2-1 MAN UTD
It is full time at the Mestalla where United's rally was too little, too late to avoid a disappointing defeat, and one which is made even worse by Juventus slipping up at Young Boys. The Red Devils have to settle for second in Group H, but all will be forgiven if they can beat Liverpool in the big one on Sunday.
That's it from our coverage from Spain. You can read our match report on the action here, and catch up on the rest of tonight's Champions League scores here. Thanks for joining me for this one. Until next time, goodbye!
That's it from our coverage from Spain. You can read our match report on the action here, and catch up on the rest of tonight's Champions League scores here. Thanks for joining me for this one. Until next time, goodbye!
