Javier Hernandez stole a 0 – 1 victory for Manchester United on Wednesday night in the Champions League against Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium.

United were drifting towards their second straight goalless draw in the competition, having been held 0-0 at home by Rangers two weeks ago, when Hernandez took a pass from Federico Macheda and rammed home in the 85th minute.

The Mexican had earlier struck a post from close-range, while Spanish league leaders Valencia’s best chance saw Roberto Soldado head over an open goal in the first half.

“It’s a great result for us,” said United coach Sir Alex Ferguson, whose side had only beaten Spanish opposition once in 18 previous visits to Spain.

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Lionel Messi and Barcelona had excellent starts to the Champions League last night with Manchester United and Inter Milan struggling in their first games in Europe.

The Argentine, like last season, treated Europe’s blue riband club competition as his personal playground, scoring two classy goals before missing a penalty as Barca recovered from an early shock to thrash visiting Panathinaikos 5-1 in Group D.

Inter took the lead but then had to come from behind to draw 2-2 at Dutch debutants Twente Enschede in Group A with the Italians losing forward Goran Pandev to a knee injury.

A much-changed Manchester United could find no way past obdurate Scottish visitors Rangers in Group C, drawing 0-0 in a game overshadowed by a serious ankle injury to Antonio Valencia.

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Peter Crouch scored a hat-trick for Tottenham Hotspur in a 4-0 win over Young Boys in the second leg of their qualifier to see them through to the Champions League group stages.

Crouch gave Spurs the perfect start when he headed home Gareth Bale’s cross with just five minutes on the clock to level on aggregate.

And it got even better for Harry Redknapp’s men just after the half-hour mark when Jermain Defoe latched on to Bale’s cross and superbly fired in off the post to put Spurs ahead on aggregate.

Defoe should have stretched the lead further when Aaron Lennon slipped him through, but he put his shot wide, while Crouch was denied from close range after the break.

Crouch did not have to wait much longer for his second, though, when he powered home a header from a corner just after the hour mark.

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Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho described his team’s qualification for the Champions League final as the greatest moment of his life.

Inter beat Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate in their semi-final despite losing the second leg 1-0 and playing an hour of the game at the Nou Camp with 10 men.

Mourinho’s Inter, who won the first game 3-1 last week, will face Bayern Munich in the final on May 22 in Madrid.

“It’s the greatest moment of my career,” said Mourinho. “For the players, me, the fans, it’s the greatest.”

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Inter Milan reached the Champions League final last night by beating Barcelona 3 – 2 on aggregate after having to play with only 10 men for more than an hour.

After losing last week’s semi-final first leg in Milan 3-1, Barca’s hopes of meeting Bayern Munich in Madrid on May 22 were lifted when Inter defender Thiago Motta clashed with Sergio Busquets in the 28th minute and was sent off.

The home fans filled the vast Nou Camp arena with noise and Barca dominated possession but struggled to create clear chances.

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Bayern Munich beat Lyon 1 – 0 in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final despite having Franck Ribery sent off.

Bayern enjoyed the better of a game, which both sides ended with just 10 men, but they were only rewarded with a slender advantage to take to the Stade Gerland next Tuesday.

Ribery was shown a straight red card for the hosts in the 37th minute but Jeremy Toulalan collected two yellows early in the second half to even things up.

And it was then left to Arjen Robben to steal the headlines as he followed up his quarter-final goal against Manchester United with a deflected shot to put Bayern marginally ahead in a finely poised tie.

After 10 minutes of getting to know each other, Bayern launched the first wave of attacks with Daniel van Buyten getting on the end of an Ivica Olic cross in the 12th minute, but sending his volley high and wide.

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Inter Milan made a brilliant comeback from 0 – 1 down to to beat title holders Barcelona 3-1 in the Champions League semifinal first leg at the San Siro on Tuesday.

Goals from Wesley Sneijder, Maicon and Diego Milito extinguished Pedro’s opener for Barca and sent the nerazzuri faithful into raptures ahead of next week’s second leg at Camp Nou.

It was a tactical masterclass from Jose Mourinho as his team wiped out memories of the footballing lessons Barca gave them in the group stages back in September and November.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola was magnanimous in defeat and refused to blame the team’s 14-hour coach journey for the loss.

“This can happen, especially when you’re playing in the semifinal of the Champions League and against Inter Milan,” he said.

“Of course it’s not ideal losing like this but we can still do it.

“The result is not good, we gave away too many balls, we can do better. This wasn’t our best game and Inter don’t make it easy for you to play.

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