So, it wasn't enough that his team should merely go home once more empty handed from a Champions League final. That they lost such a tightly-fought contest in a penalty shoot-out can surely only compound the agony for Hector Cuper and his dispirited players as they make their way back to Spain this morning.

Penalties were, in fact, the story of the night. During the game's original 90 minutes we had three of them, one of which Bayern missed, and in extra time, when a golden goal would have decided the title, we should have had another for the Germans. In the end, though, they won their European crown from a shoot-out that started with a terrible miss by Paulo Sergio but was won by Oliver Kahn's three outstanding saves.

As it happens Valencia defender Mauricio Pellegrino will have to carry the stigma of failing to score the decisive kick.

The manner of Bayern's victory last night, though, should not obscure too greatly the fact that for the best part of a tremendously competitive battle, the Germans were the better side.

Forced to make the running early on, after Gaizka Mendieta had given last year's beaten finalists the lead from the spot in just the second minute and Mehmet Scholl had seen his poorly-struck effort saved at the other end five minutes later, players like Stefan Effenberg and Bixente Lizarazu worked tirelessly to get back on terms and had their finishing been better, the number of chances they created during the first period should certainly have enabled Bayern to do that and more.

Effenberg, aside from being the victim of the Jocelyn Angloma trip that led to Bayern's seventh minute spot kick, started poorly and so it was Hasan Salihamidzic who looked his side's most likely source of concern for Santiago Canizares and his defence as the game unfolded.

But when the Bosnian was tripped on the edge of the area Scholl again squandered the opportunity and when he then linked up neatly with Lizarazu to provide a low, driven cross for Giovane Elber, the Brazilian striker failed miserably to make the required contact.

Amedeo Carboni, who talked on Tuesday of having felt guilty for missing last year's final through suspension, can hardly be feeling any better this morning. His handball five minutes after the break led to penalty number three and Effenberg, by now operating with his usual effectiveness in the centre of the field, stepped up to apply the necessary finish.

Things were to get worse, much worse, for the veteran leftback, meanwhile, with the Italian one of Kahn's victims during the shoot-out later on. He was at least spared the ignominy of conceding a further spot kick during extra time, however, had referee Dick Jol spotted his use of the arm to control a loose ball after Effenberg's free had clattered into the wall.

Valencia certainly did their utmost to stick with the script laid out by astute tactician, Cuper. They repeatedly broke quickly out of a packed defence but rarely proved creative enough to provide scoring chances for their two front men. Fleetingly, we saw just what the likes of Mendieta, Juan Sanchez and Kily Gonzalez could do to less pacey defenders but a major stumbling block was the fact that all of John Carew's best moments came out on the flanks.

In the dying minutes of normal time Slovenian midfielder Zlatko Zahovic, on for Sanchez up front, twice went close to nicking it for the Spaniards but to do that to Bayern again would really have been larceny.

As the game went on Ottmar Hitzfeld's side steadily looked stronger in midfield where 20year-old Owen Hargreaves again thrived, his almost flawless passing and apparently boundless energy further underlining his remarkable potential.

Had Scoll's set-pieces matched his overall contribution the game might well have been wrapped up within the 90 minutes, while Paulo Sergio was provided with a fine opportunity to end it in extra time thanks to the powerful running of Effenberg, but could manage only the meekest of efforts at goal.

By then, of course, a single mistake would, as Cuper had said it might, have been enough to decide the entire affair and Kahn was forced into a couple of half-decent saves as well as one rather good one from a Mendieta free-kick.

In front of the goalkeeper, though, Patrik Andersson - whose handball had led to his side trailing from so early on, and the rest of the defence managed to perform their night's work with a surprising degree of comfort.

With Pablo Aimar's perhaps premature departure from midfield the primary source of danger to the Germans' central defence had gone, while out wide neither Mendieta nor Gonzalez could do what was required of them during the latter stages.

Much of which will have puzzled their manager, who had said beforehand that it simply made no sense to repeatedly get this far (he also led Real Mallorca to the Cup Winners' Cup final two seasons ago) only to lose each time. Logic, though, is rarely a welcome guest in a losing team's dressing room.

BAYERN MUNICH: Kahn, Kuffour, Andersson, Linke, Sagnol (Jancker 46), Hargreaves, Effenberg, Lizarazu, Scholl (Sergio 108), Salihamidzic, Elber (Zickler 100). Subs Not Used: Dreher, Sforza, Tarnat, Santa Cruz. Booked: Andersson. Goals: Effenberg 51 pen.

VALENCIA: Canizares, Angloma, Ayala (Djukic 90), Pellegrino, Carboni, Baraja, Mendieta, Kily Gonzalez, Sanchez (Zahovic 66), Aimar (Albelda 48), Carew. Subs Not Used: Palop, Deschamps, Vicente, Aurelio. Booked: Carboni, Kily Gonzalez, Canizares. Goals: Mendieta 3 pen. Attendance: 71,500.

Referee: Dick Jol (Holland).