FC Barcelona 2 Valencia 1

Valencia win 5-3 on aggregate

Valencia produced a cool and efficient display in the Camp Nou to destroy FC Barcelona's chances of meeting Real Madrid in the Paris final on May 24th.

Neither Valencia or Real are champions of Spain so the Champions League final will again be dominated by also rans but Valencia were excellent and exposed all the flaws in a Barcelona team that never looked like scoring the goals needed to save them after a 4-1 hammering in the first leg last week.

Barca led Valencia by 14 points in the Primera Liga last season and the finalists started their Champions League campaign on 11th August last year in the qualifying rounds with Maccabi Haifa.

None of that mattered as they squeezed the champions of Spain into submission.

Valencia started the second half well and Claudio Lopez had a clear sight of goal in the 49th minute when he side footed the shot low at goal to allow Ruud Hersp to make a save that he almost fluffed when he allowed the ball to squirm under his body and approach the goal before he saved again.

The Valencia contain and break tactics began to dominate and Gaitzka Mendieta - outstanding on the night - missed a great chance when he fired wide from in front of goal after a run down the right and cut inside by Claudio Lopez.

Barca started to deteriorate and captain Pep Guardiola was substituted to the disapproval of the home crowd. He was replaced by right back Sergi to allow Cocu to play in the centre of midfield but seconds later Valencia booked their place in the Champions League final.

A cross to the edge of the penalty area from Claudio Lopez fell into the path of Gaitzka Mendieta who controlled the ball with his right foot to take it past Cocu and lashed a left foot shot into the corner.

The home fans were resigned to defeat now and coach Louis van Gaal will bear the full brunt of criticism for poor tactics and a miserable performance from Barca.

The Catalans - who have still to make up three points in the title race on La Coruna - looked a team of strangers and the white handerchiefs came out in the 74th minute.

The Dutch leader will do well to survive such a catastrophic defeat when his team of Dutch imports looked like a collection of mercenaries and aliens who could only shoot wide when they created half chances.

The handkerchief signal arrived after substitute Abelardo had produced a diving header to clear an Angulo shot from the line after Mendieta had walked the ball into the Barca defence and around Hesp.

Barca then scored a consolation in the 77th minute as Frank De Boer followed in an inswinging corner to glance a header past a flapping goalkeeper Canizares into the net.

Cocu scored from close range in injury but it was too little too late for the Catalan club who only tested Canizares once in the first half when a left foot drive by Rivaldo forced the goalkeeper to dive at full stretch to turn the ball away.

Barca coach van Gaal has called Valencia boss Hector Cuper the best coach in Europe and on this display it is hard to argue. As the Barca board come under screaming pressure to call time on van Gaal's Dutch experiment at the club they may turn their attention to Cuper and some of his stars particularly Mendieta and Gerrard Lopez in midfield.

For the moment Cuper's future will be dominated by the Paris final while Barca will try to retain their title in the league to appease their fans.