In the city which claims to have the holy grail, Manchester United took an important step in their quest to lift football's equivalent prize.

Sir Alex Ferguson probably did not have time to see the dubiously-named gold cup proudly displayed in Valencia's cathedral during United's whistle-stop visit.

Even if he did he probably would not have been that impressed because for him the real holy grail is much bigger, made of silver and is presently sitting in the trophy room of Real Madrid.

That is what the United manager is desperate to get his hands on again and he edged closer to realising that ambition when his side earned a vital point in the Mestalla.

Make no mistake, as United's performances go this was far from a classic as Ferguson's men ground out the result they had come for.

After the allegations of match fixing, which surrounded the sides' goalless draw on their last meeting 11 months ago, this game had even fewer genuine chances.

That will not bother United and they will know that their point leaves them within a victory of achieving Ferguson's qualification target of 10 points.

With two matches left and Sturm Graz still to visit Old Trafford, few would bet against United reaching the quarter-finals again.

United faced a tough assignment in the cauldron-like Mestalla, which had had 4,000 extra seats added for this match.

Valencia, last year's beaten finalists, had not lost at home in Europe for eight years, while the Reds - or los Diablos Rojos as the locals call them - had never beaten a Spanish side on Spanish soil. United, though, could hardly have been in better shape going into the game with a 13-point Premiership lead and a free weekend to look forward to before Tuesday's return at Old Trafford.

Ferguson had the added luxury of naming a full-strength side and back came the fit-again Fabien Barthez and the rested Teddy Sheringham.

The surface, made greasy by the heavy rain, suited both sides' passing games and Valencia fashioned the first chances with two Kily Gonzalez shots, one of which went wide while the other was blocked.

United soon found their stride and Sheringham slipped a lovely ball through to Ryan Giggs on the left and the Welshman played in a dangerous centre, which was cleared by Mauricio Pellegrino.

Debutant Pablo Aimar, a £13.7million signing from River Plate, then played in Miguel Angel Angulo to score, but the assistant referee was already flagging for offside.

Giggs was seeing a lot of the ball and David Beckham just failed to connect with his diagonal pass to the back post.

The tempo increased and Wes Brown headed a Beckham corner just over the bar.

Now it was Valencia's turn to put United under pressure and skipper Gaizka Mendieta should have scored in the 33rd minute when he was played through on the left by Aimar.

The Spanish international had only Barthez to beat, but he dallied and when he eventually did manage to shoot, his effort was blocked for a corner.

That was not the end of the danger for United and Barthez came and missed Gonzalez's corner and the ball came off Brown's head and landed on the roof of the net.

The home fans in the 50,000-strong crowd sensed a goal and screamed their team on.

John Carew controlled the ball with his back to goal and as he attempted to turn and shoot, Paul Scholes knocked it away.

The Reds withstood this pressure and put together a decent move, which culminated in Scholes firing narrowly over with a right-foot drive from Sheringham's pass.

Barthez caused a moment's panic when he dropped Angulo's cross only for the Frenchman to pounce on the loose ball.

Valencia needed more than a point to maintain their push for a quarter-final place and they tried to increase the tempo.

Mendieta found some space outside the United area and teed up Gonzalez, whose shot was deflected wide for a corner.

Finally Barthez was called upon to make a save when he parried Gonzalez's angled drive and United cleared before Aimar could stab home the loose ball.

Mendieta then turned and unleashed a fierce drive into Barthez's arms.

Following this brief flurry of activity by Valencia, United regained control and played out the clock in clinical fashion.

Teams:

Valencia: Canizares, Carboni, Pellegrino, Ayala, Angloma, Mendieta, Kily Gonzalez, Baraja, Aimar, Angulo, Carew (Alonso 75).

Subs Not Used: Palop, Deschamps, Djukic, Vicente, Sanchez, Albelda.

Booked: Pellegrino, Ayala.

Man Utd: Barthez, Silvestre, Stam, Brown, Gary Neville, Giggs, Keane, Scholes, Beckham (Butt 75), Sheringham, Cole (Solskjaer 85).

Subs Not Used: Van Der Gouw, Irwin, Phil Neville, Yorke, Chadwick.

Booked: Scholes, Silvestre, Stam.

Att: 49,451

Ref: Dick Jol (Holland).