Valencia were through. Bayern Munich needed a draw to avoid having to win against BATE Borisov at the Allianz Arena in a fortnight in order to go through. Surprise, surprise! We got a 1-1 draw at the Mestalla.
Valencia vs. Bayern Munich, 2012 Champions League: Final score 1-1, draw suits everyone
Alexander Hassenstein
It was a match that was more interesting than it had any right to be, actually, especially after Antonio Barragan got himself sent off for a ridiculous tackle on Bayern left back David Alaba 35 minutes in. The defender was already on a booking for fouling Franck Ribery, but his lunge on Alaba was worthy of a sending off all on its own. After the red card, Valencia might have been expected to sit back, chill out, and let this one play itself out to a draw.
But they didn't and took a surprising 77th minute lead when the excellent Sofiane Feghouli's shot was deflected past a diving Manuel Neuer by Dante's outstretched arm (Los Che would have had a very good shout for a penalty had that not gone in). Suddenly, Bayern looked in danger of being within implausible striking range of BATE Borisov. But five minutes later, Thomas Mueller was able to get on the end of a Mario Gomez knockdown and restore parity. And that, as they say, was that.
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