Battling Inter and Juventus clinch semi-final tickets
Inter qualify on the away goals rule and could now meet city rivals AC Milan if they beat Ajax at home tonight.
Valencia were on the back foot even before the match, having gone down 1-0 in Milan. As well as that there was the added knowledge that they would be playing in front of Inter coach Hector Cuper, who took them to two successive Champions League finals.
When Christian Vieri fired home the opener after five minutes, the Spaniards must have felt a tad uncomfortable in their own Mestalla stadium.
Though Valencia keeper Santiago Canizares pulled off a great one-handed reflex save, Vieri clinically netted the rebound before he had to leave the field injured on the half-hour mark.
Valencia responded well, equalising two minutes later as John Carew outwitted two Inter defenders to feed Pablo Aimar, who sidestepped his marker and slotted coolly past Toldo for his first goal since January 26.
Yet for all their efforts, Valencia came up against a brick wall in the big Inter keeper.
Toldo was sublime, stopping a volley of shots throughout the half and showing supreme determination to block three rapid-fire shots in a busy 10-second period just before the interval.
Another free from the right forced Toldo to come out and punch the ball away from Carew’s head. The big Norwegian could only look on as the ball evaded him.
As Valencia piled on the pressure, Toldo’s trio of quick saves before the break was followed by a dramatic outburst at team-mate Di Biagio, who responded by grabbing the big keeper by the throat.
The second half was just as tense, and Valencia came out firing on all cylinders.
Just five minutes in, Baraja’s well-aimed volley was saved by Toldo after some great work by Aimar in midfield.
A minute later Baraja was left unmarked in the box for a corner and he leapt to meet a dipping ball, finally beating the Italian keeper, who could do nothing as the ball bounced before flying high into his net.
The late surge by Valencia that followed, with Toldo again playing a crucial role, seemed to confirm just it wasn’t to be their night.
VALENCIA: Canizares, Reveillere, Carboni, Marchena, Ayala, Baraja, Sanchez, Angulo, Carew, Aimar, Vicente.
INTER MILAN: Toldo, Javier Zanetti, Pasquale, Materazzi, Cordoba, Gamarra, Di Biagio, Cristiano Zanetti, Dalmat, Crespo, Vieri.
Referee: Kim Nielsen (Denmark)
MANCHESTER UNITED will face Juventus in the last four if they can come back and beat Real Madrid, after the Italian side saw off Barcelona in the Nou Camp.
The home side had an appeal for a first-half penalty turned down by English referee Graham Poll, when it appeared Juve defender Lilian Thuram handled in the box as he dispossessed Patrick Kluivert.
Luis Enrique wasted a glorious chance for Barca a minute into the second half, but he was punished when Pavel Nedved put Juventus ahead in the 53rd minute, cutting in from the left before beating Roberto Bonano at his near post.
The aggregate score was levelled at 2-2 some 13 minutes later, when Thuram’s defensive header fell to Xavi on the edge of the box and he drilled a low shot into the corner.
Juventus were forced to play the last 11 minutes of normal time and the extra period with 10 men, after Edgar Davids was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Kluivert was denied a goal in extra time when his close-range volley was blocked by Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
Juve were still soaking up the pressure of the home side, and struck a crucial second goal with six minutes of extra time to go.
Alessandro Birindelli was released down the right by Nedved, and Uruguayan striker Marcelo Zalayeta volleyed home to stun the Nou Camp.
That made it 3-2 on aggregate to the Italians, and Barca were unable to score the two goals needed for them to go through.
BARCELONA: Bonano, Puyol, De Boer, Reiziger, Andersson, Xavi, Motta, Luis Enrique, Kluivert, Saviola, Overmars.
JUVENTUS: Buffon, Thuram, Zambrotta, Ferrara, Montero, Tacchinardi, Davids, Camoranesi, Nedved, Del Piero, Di Vaio.
Referee: Graham Poll (England)
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