Jaime Reina/AFP/Getty ImagesLucky for Bayern that it did manage an equalizer at ten-man Valencia; either way, Jupp Heynckes will be pleased to have qualification secured for the knockout phase.

"We can be satisfied with the result but not with the game." -- Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

A Bayern side that largely dominated the game couldn't completely break down a ten-man Valencia at the Mestalla, but an early loss by BATE Borisov to Lille meant that one point was all that was needed to see Bayern Munich and Valencia CF through to the last 16 of the Champions League with a match to spare.

It looked promising early as die Roten had the lion's share of possession, threatening often in the first half hour. Dante got his head on a couple of corner kicks -- one of which was saved by Vicente Guaita -- Thomas Mueller shot just wide in the opening minutes and David Alaba saw his free kick sky over the net.

Howard Webb may have been a bit harsh with his first yellow for Antonio Barragan after he stepped on Franck Ribery's toes, but the second foul was a straight red anyway -- a horrible tackle clean through David Alaba. One would think by how commanding FCB had been up to that sending off that it would now take full control with a one-man advantage. Strangely, Los Che played its best football after being reduced to ten men.

Dante threatened again with a header after the restart but Roberto Soldado got a few swipes at goal at the other end, blasting across the face once and, after beating Dante one-on-one, shooting just over the bar. Jupp Heynckes reacted (a little late for my tastes) by bringing on Mario Mandzukic for the ineffective Claudio Pizarro and Xherdan Shaqiri for the also largely ineffective Toni Kroos.

The change was immediately felt as Bayern got their best chance on goal for the day: Shaq lobbed in to Mandzukic who headed goalward only to hit the post. But it would quickly get bad for the Reds after Webb awarded a free kick to Valencia for Andres Guardado’s blatant acting job. The ensuing play saw Sofiane Feghouli's shot take an unlucky deflection off Dante and past Manuel Neuer.

Franck Ribery soon made way for Mario Gomez who made an immediate contribution with his assist on Thomas Mueller's goal that, in a bit of karma, had deflected just enough off Feghouli. The remaining ten minutes played out with Bayern pressing constantly to no avail.

Disappointing as the match was, Munich is still through to the last 16. Heynckes' side must get over this one quickly as Hannover comes to the Allianz this weekend before a mid-week encounter with Freiburg and a true test in the Bundesliga's most interesting match thus far: Borussia Dortmund. Thankfully, I'll be in Munich for that one.

Odds and ends:

Aly Cissokho is a quality player, but Philipp Lahm should have handled him better than he did.

Franck Ribery was certainly not 100 percent. So, why try to run everything down the left?

Javi Martinez failed to impress. But then, everyone failed to impress.

Jupp Heynckes should have subbed out Pizarro at the half.

Much was made of Howard Webb refereeing this match (his 75th UEFA game). All-in-all he did a good job, except for that first card on Barragan and the blatant dive by Guardado that led to Feghouli's goal.

Anyone else missing Arjen Robben?

You should follow Susie on Twitter @fussballsusie.

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