Genk and Valencia kicked-off their respective Champions League campaigns with a goalless stalemate.
Los Che disappoint on their travels as hosts celebrate hard fought point
Given Genk and Valencia have never previously met it is a shame that Tuesday's goalless stalemate in the UEFA Champions League will have been forgotten about by the time the last supporter left the stadium.
On this evidence Chelsea will have little problem negotiating progression from Group E, although in truth Valencia were hardly helped by five changes made to the side which had beaten Atletico Madrid at the weekend.
The closest either side came to breaking the deadlock in Belgium arrived midway through a largely insipid second half, with Valencia centre-half Adil Rami rattling Genk's crossbar with a majestic overhead kick that transcended much of what had preceded it.
The result leaves the two teams in joint second place in the standings, two points behind Chelsea who were 2-0 home winners over Bayer Leverkusen tonight.
Valencia started their domestic campaign with back-to-back victories and they looked promising early on with Rami heading over before Roberto Soldado, who has struck four times in La Liga already this season, also missed the target with a header.
Summer signing Pablo Piatti then tried his luck with an effort that was straight at home goalkeeper Laszlo Koteles. Mehmet Topal, Dani Parejo and Piatti also had efforts without success before Belgian champions Genk started to fight their way back into the game with Daniel Pudil volleying wide and Jeroen Simaeys bringing a save out of visiting goalkeeper Diego Alves.
Jelle Vossen also drew a parry out of Alves just before the teams went off for half-time.
Dour stalemate
The second half saw Valencia again start brightly with Piatti shooting over before Soldado, who had netted 16 times in Los Che's previous 11 matches, saw a cross-shot parried by Koteles in the 55th minute.
The match looked to be heading towards a goalless stalemate but Valencia came within inches of breaking the deadlock in the 72nd minute when Pablo Hernandez's cross was met by a spectacular overhead kick from Rami, but the France international was unlucky to see his effort strike the woodwork.
Valencia would not come any closer than that in the final stages of the match, but Genk might have snatched the points for themselves in the 83rd minute.
Nadson was almost the Genk hero but his shot was tipped over by Alves as the match finished level.
| KRC Genk |
Team Statistics |
Valencia |
| 0 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 2 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 3 |
Shots off Target |
15 |
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 5 |
Corners |
7 |
| 19 |
Fouls |
17 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
3 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 70.4 |
Passing Success |
86.7 |
| 23 |
Tackles |
17 |
| 69.6 |
Tackles Success |
94.1 |
| 31 |
Possession |
69 |
| 45.8 |
Territorial Advantage |
54.2 |
|
