Valencia kept the pressure on third-placed Atletico Madrid as Shkodran Mustafi earned his side a 1-1 draw at the home of the La Liga champions.
A cagey first half contained very few chances for either side, with Valencia only going close when Alvaro Negredo miscued a bicycle kick in the early stages of the match.
Atletico made improvements as the opening 45 minutes progressed, and they managed to break the deadlock with a clever move involving Fernando Torres and Tiago, who found Koke to allow the returning midfielder to fire an effort past Diego Alves from the edge of the box.
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Diego Simeone's side started to look more dangerous either side of the half-time interval, but they missed a decent chance to double the lead when Raul Garcia headed straight at Alves from close range.
Valencia's defence looked vulnerable as Atletico pushed for more goals in the second half, and the visitors were fortunate not to fall further behind when Tiago sliced his effort against the crossbar.
An extended spell of pressure from the visitors was rewarded 12 minutes from time as Miguel Moya kept out a long-range free kick from Dani Parejo, before failing to prevent Mustafi slotting home the rebound.
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The away side were given a scare late on when Javi Fuego was dismissed for a second yellow card, but both sides were forced to settle for a draw which keeps Valencia just a point behind Atletico.
Callum Mulvihill
