Valencia dropped important points in the fight for a Champions League place after they were held 0-0 at home by lowly Racing Santander on Monday in their Spanish First Division match.

With fourth-placed Sevilla losing, Valencia could have opened up a six-point cushion but they were never at their best with a number of players missing through injury and suspension.

A make-shift defence struggled especially against the skills of youngster Sergio Canales but they still had the chances to see off the threat from Racing going forward.

The normally clinical David Villa shot straight at the Racing keeper Fabio Coltorti from six-yards out and then saw another strike come back off the post.

Racing also had their moments with Canales denied by the Valencia keeper Miguel Moya before the break and in the second half Santander had the better opportunities to win the match.

Moya proved to be the hero for Valencia making several point-blank saves notably from Manuel Arana and Mohamed Tchite.

The pressure on the Valencia defence took its toll with the expulsion of David Navarro for a second yellow card late on.