The point was enough to put Bayern into the last 16 as group winners on a bad-tempered night in Amsterdam with five goals, two penalties and two red cards in an action-packed second half.

“That was an advert for football,” beamed Bayern head coach Niko Kovac.

“We had the clearer chances and could have finished the game much sooner, but we didn’t use the spaces.

“However, the most important thing was to finish top of the group and with 14 from 18 points we are happy.”

Kingsley Coman came off the bench to put Bayern 3-2 up on 90 minutes before Nicolas Tagliafico equalised for Ajax in the fifth minute of added time.

After Lewandowski gave Bayern a first-half lead, Ajax turned the game around after the break as Dusan Tadic tapped home, then converted a penalty with eight minutes left.

However, Bayern roared back with Lewandowski scoring a spot-kick three minutes from time before Coman put the Germans back in front and Tagliafico could only rescue a point when victory would have seen the Dutch outfit usurp their opponents at the top of the table.

Lewandowski’s brace leaves him as the Champions League’s top-scorer with eight goals in the group stage.

– Dangerous challenges –

Ajax’s Maximilian Woeber and Bayern forward Thomas Mueller were shown straight red cards for dangerous challenges.

There was little hint of the drama to come when Bayern took the lead in only the 13th minute at Ajax’s Johan Cruyff Arena when Serge Gnabry’s perfectly-timed pass put Lewandowski in behind the Dutch defence.

It should have been 2-0 14 minutes later when Gnabry served up a great chance for Lewandowski, but a fantastic save by Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana blocked his shot.

Having earned a 1-1 draw in Munich at the start of October, Ajax kept the Germans under pressure.

It was 1-0 to Bayern at the break, but the Germans found themselves in the unusual position of enjoying just 40 percent possession, content to sit back and hit Ajax on the break.

Bayern were under intense pressure and the hosts deservedly drew level after a series of high-speed passes opened the away defence, giving Tadic a simple tap-in at the far post with an hour gone.

The game sparked into life with Onana again producing another superb save to deny Lewandowski moments later, just before Woeber was sent off for lunging in on Goretzka’s ankle.

Mueller trudged off soon after, leaving Tagliafico with a bloodied head with 15 minutes left for going in high on the Argentinian.

Mueller’s red card swung the momentum back in Ajax’s favour.

Jerome Boateng’s clumsy foul on Danish substitute Kasper Dolberg gave Ajax a penalty which Tadic slammed home.

Substitute Thiago Alcantara won the penalty Lewandowski slotted in and Coman’s superb curling shot made it 3-2, before Tagliafico gave Ajax short-lived hope.

Already through to the last 16, Jose Mourinho made eight changes at the Mestalla, including a return for Paul Pogba, but United were largely outplayed by their Spanish opponents, who sit 15th in La Liga.

After the game, Mourinho seemed to aim a dig at those players to have come in. “Nothing surprised me at all,” he said.

Carlos Soler’s driven shot and a Phil Jones own-goal put Valencia two up early in the second half before United came alive in the final minutes after Marcus Rashford’s header gave them brief hope.

Perhaps Mourinho and his players had assumed Juventus would win away at Young Boys but the Italians’ surprise 2-1 loss meant United had first place within their grasp.

Instead, they go through as runners-up into Monday’s draw for the last 16, with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and Porto all potential opponents.

As group winners, they would have had Atletico Madrid, Roma, Schalke, Ajax or Lyon.

“Apart from a couple of clubs that are clearly much better than the others, I don’t think the draw will be significantly different,” Mourinho said.

“There are teams that finish second that the ones that finish first will not be happy to play against.”

Porto would probably be the favoured pick but on this evidence, they might feel the same about United. After all, Valencia also made changes, eight of them, with their fate resigned to dropping into the Europa League.

Valencia had failed to score in six of their previous eight Champions League games while poor form in La Liga has their coach Marcelino fighting for his future.

After drawing against Sevilla last weekend, their fans swung white handkerchiefs in the air to demonstrate their dissatisfaction.

“We needed this winning feeling back in our game,” said Marcelino afterwards.

Pogba, left out against Arsenal and Fulham, started here but contributed little, save for a glaring miss in the first half. Eric Bailly also came in but his partnership with Jones was rocky all night.

United made Valencia look like world-beaters in the opening 45 minutes. They were slow in possession and just as sluggish out of it. Frustration bubbled and burst, as a handful of tackles flew in and missed.

Valencia were excellent. Geoffrey Kondogbia and Dani Parejo both went close early on before another pinball session in the penalty area saw the ball land at the feet of Soler. He looked up, picked his spot and drove into the far corner.

Michy Batshuayi should have made it two but headed over and Mouctar Diakhaby could have had a penalty when denied a simple finish by the clambering Marouane Fellaini.

United had the occasional opening, the best of them falling to Pogba, who somehow stabbed wide after Fellaini’s header offered him a tap-in from two yards at the back post.

Jones marched off at half-time shaking his head, having berated his midfield for failing to track back, but the interval brought no relief.

Almost as soon as they restarted, Romelu Lukaku misread a Bailly pass. Just as others had before, Bailly threw his arms up in frustration.

Soon after it was two, Soler’s pass landing between Sergio Romero and Jones, with Batshuayi on the chase. Jones panicked, met the ball on the slide, and pushed it past his approaching goalkeeper and into his own net.

There were 43 minutes left but a United comeback never looked likely until Rashford, on as a substitute, headed home in the 87th minute. Jesse Lingard had done well to keep the ball alive before Ashley Young supplied the cross.

Juan Mata could even have equalised. Pogba’s scooped ball over the top left him alone in front of goal but he missed the ball as he tried to volley on the turn. A point would have been more than United deserved.

Throughout the long exciting rallies during the 78-minute match, Ratchanok had to dig deep to upset the world No 3, who had entered the match with a 7-1 head-to-head record over the Thai.

Ratchanok, who at 18 years old became the youngest world champion in the same Chinese city in 2013, came from behind to take the opening game in 21 minutes before the Chinese raised her level to level the tie by taking the second set in 30 minutes.

In the final set, Ratchanok led from the start but could not pull clear, until at 17-16 down, Chen lunged for a drop shot, hurt her left ankle and needed on-court treatment.

When play resumed, Ratchanok dictated four points in a row to finally score her second career win over Chen. The Thai No 1 will next play 2017 world champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan on Thursday.

In men’s group B first round-robin match, Thai No 2 Kantaphon Wangcharoen suffered his four straight defeat to  Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia who beat him 21-18 18-21 21-11.

A total of six Thais have qualified for the BWF Finals this year – the mixed doubles team of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai beat Goh Soon Huat and Lai Shevon Jemie of Malaysia 21-19 21-10 but women’s doubles Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai lost to Lee So Hee and Shin Seung Chan 21-14 21-8.

Elsewhere in the men’s draw, world badminton champion Kento Momota made a lightning start, rampaging past India’s overwhelmed Sameer Verma in just 36 minutes.

The Japanese star is looking to put the seal on a breakthrough year in which he has risen to No1 in the rankings and become world champion for the first time.

It is all a far cry from 2016, when Momota was expelled from Japan’s team for the Rio Olympics and banned for more than a year for visiting an illegal casino.

The 24-year-old had too much quality and power for Verma, ranked 14th in the world, thrashing him 21-18, 21-6 to confirm his status as the man to beat in Guangzhou.

Also untroubled in her opener was the women’s No1, Tai Tzu-ying from Tawian, who defeated Zhang Beiwen of the United States 21-15, 21-17 in 30 minutes.

Apart from devoting much time to charitable causes and catching up with his Bangkok family, the man nicknamed “Arm” also yesterday paid a visit to his main benefactor Santi Bhirombhakdi, CEO of Boon Rawd Brewery, at the company’s headquarters in Bangkok.

He paid tribute to Santi for his support, which he said had been instrumental in his success over the last 12 months, and presented him with a garland as an expression of his thanks.

Kiradech will next be in action from December 21-23 at the Amata Cup in Bangkok, a unique mixed match-play event in which Thailand will take on Japan.

Four men and four women from each nation will compete at the Amata Country Club, where Kiradech will team up with women’s No1 Ariya Jutanuagrn, her sister Moriya and the veteran Thongchai Jaidee.

This project is one of the company’s three biggest projects invested.

The Chee Chan Golf Resort features 18 holes of championship golf designed by David Dale of Golfplan near the giant Chee Chan Buddha engraving.

It was opened on Wednesday by Narit Chia-Apar, chairman of Chartered Square, who said: “I love golf. I know how golfers think and what they want. I know the level of service that is expected, and so I built the course based on my needs as a golfer, and not just as an investor.”

It has Zemet Zoysia grass on tees and fairways. The Buddha engraving can be seen from the View restaurant.

The Japanese star is looking to put the seal on a breakthrough year in which he has risen to number one in the rankings and become world champion for the first time.

It is all a far cry from 2016, when Momota was expelled from Japan’s team for the Rio Olympics and banned for more than a year for visiting an illegal casino.

The 24-year-old had too much quality and power for Verma — ranked 14th in the world — thrashing him 21-18, 21-6 to confirm his status as the man to beat in Guangzhou.

Also untroubled in her opener was the women’s number one, Tai Tzu-ying from Tawian, who defeated Zhang Beiwen of the United States 21-15, 21-17 in 30 minutes.