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Valencia Make a Point in Athens
Valencia invited the hosts to attack and were rarely in trouble against an Athens side that had most of the possession but lacked penetration. Angelos Anastasiadis's team, robbed by injury of both their playmakers, looked painfully short of the guile required to break down the accomplished Valencia defence. The Spanish side, who beat Sturm Graz 2-0 in the opening round, filled second place in the group on four points, two behind Manchester United, 2-0 winners against the Austrians. Panathinakos, defeated at Manchester United in their first game, were third with one point. Sturm Graz have lost twice. Panathinaikos's best chance went to Giorgos Karagounis who went close to repeating his Old Trafford goal when he fired a second half free kick on to the bar. Valencia's central defensive duo of Mauricio Pellegrino and Miroslav Djukic marshalled Panathinaikos strikers Nikos Liberopoulos and Krzysztof Warzycha out of the danger areas throughout, forcing the hosts to look to their fullbacks for width. Hector Cuper's men, much like their previous visit to Athens, were content to soak up pressure and looked to feed striker John Carew on the break. Takis Fyssas, enjoyed a confident first half and got behind the Spanish defence as early as the seventh minute but his cross could not find a team mate. Liberopoulos finally slipped his minders in the 26th minute to fire in a right foot drive which goalkeeper Santiago Canizares palmed away for a corner. The second half opened up marginally, with chances for Valencia's Ruben Baraja and Liberopoulos but play remained bogged down in midfield. Valencia's best effort came from Carew with five minutes to go but his close range shot was well saved by Antonis Nikopolidis.
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Soccer
