Rangers crashed to only their second defeat of the season last night as their Champions League campaign got off to a disappointing start at the Mestalla Stadium.
An own goal from Craig Moore after 56 minutes gave Valencia the breakthrough and Kily Gonzalez added a second in the 74th minute.
Rangers were over-run in this Group F match, especially in midfield, and the Spanish side could have had five or six goals.
Rangers were forced to back-pedal in the opening stages. Local keeper Lionel Charbonnier had to act smartly after six minutes to punch away a dangerous in-swinging corner from Mendieta. Rangers retaliated immediately with Sergio Porrini picked out Claudio Reyna on the right flank.
Slowly the Ibrox club were getting into the match and Vidmar dragged a shot wide of the post after a good run. Porrini then came to Rangers' rescue, steering a shot from Juan Sanchez into the path of Charbonnier.
Gabriel Amato should have put Rangers ahead six minutes before the break when he headed wide in front of the posts following an inswinging free-kick from Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
The home side stepped up the pressure in the second half, and Rangers' worst fears were confirmed in the 56th minute when the home side made the breakthrough.
A cross from Sanchez was knocked away one handed by Charbonnier but it spun off team-mate Moore and drifted over the line. Rangers were finally killed off when they conceded a second goal after 74 minutes. Kily Gonzalez fired a thunderous shot across Charbonnier and into the corner from the edge of the area.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)