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Season 2000-01


2001 EUROPEAN CUP FINAL


The 2000/01 Champions League season began with a major shock in the qualifying rounds as Swedish minnows Helsingborg knocked out Internazionale. A late goal in the first leg was enough to see the Swedes through as they held on for a goalless draw in the San Siro to record a famous victory. Other previous winners of the competition to go out at this early stage were Porto and Feyenoord.


Helsingborg v Internazionale


The highest profile qualifying tie pitted Leeds of England against 1860 Munich of Germany. The first leg in England saw Leeds looking comfortable with a 2-0 lead as the game drew to a close, but a late Agostino header gave the Germans some hope. But Leeds won 1-0 in Munich to see them progress to the group stages.

Leeds v 1860 Munich/1860 Munich v Leeds


In the first group stage, holders Real Madrid drew their first game and lost the last one, but won all the games in between to top Group A. Close behind were Spartak Moscow who won all their home games as well as gaining a 3-0 victory away to Sporting Lisbon.


Real Madrid v Bayer Leverkusen/Sporting Lisbon v Spartak Moscow


Despite being well beaten in the 2000 final, Valencia continued their impressive European form as they won their opening 4 games in Group C to qualify comfortably. The second place came down to the last game with Lyon having to beat Olympiakos to claim the runner-up spot. An early Laigle headed goal gave them the lead and they then survived penalty appeals and a controversially disallowed Greek goal to hold on for a hard fought 1-0 which saw them progress on away goals.


Lyon v Valencia/Lyon v Olympiakos


Having abandoned their policy of playing home Champions League games at Wembley, Arsenal finally made it through a group stage as they won four of their first five games, although it took two late goals from defender Martin Keown to defeat Shakhtar Donetsk. Lazio were close behind in second place having won all their games against Shakhtar and Sparta Prague.


Arsenal v Shakhtar Donetsk


In Group D the Austrians of Sturm Graz lost their first two away games 5-0 to Rangers and Monaco respectively, yet won all their home games to top the group with the Scottish and French teams being eliminated. Galatasaray beat both Rangers and Monaco 3-2 in Istanbul and the 2-2 draw on the last matchday between the Scots and the French effectively knocked both teams out.


Rangers v Sturm Graz/Sturm Graz v Monaco


Deportivo La Coruna were unbeaten in Group E and won the group. Despite a good start, Juventus lost their last two matches to end up bottom of the table with their last day defeat to Panathinaikos seeing the Greeks through in second place ahead of Hamburg.


Deportivo v Hamburg/Panathinaikos v Juventus


Having knocked out Internazionale in the qualifying rounds, Helsingborg had high hopes of causing more upsets, but they found the going harder in Group F as they conceded 13 goals in losing their opening three games. Their Norwegian neighbours Rosenborg began with more success as they beat Paris St Germain 3-1, but the French side won the return game 7-2 and finished the group in second place behind Bayern Munich.


Bayern Munich v Paris St Germain/Paris St Germain v Rosenborg


Anderlecht's first three games included a 5-1 defeat to Manchester United and a 4-0 loss to Dynamo Kiev, but they rallied to win their last three games and top the group. Thanks to a final day 1-0 win over Kiev, United also qualified just ahead of PSV Eindhoven.


Dynamo Kiev v Anderlecht/PSV Eindhoven v Anderlecht


Another team to start their group campaign badly but still qualify were Leeds United. They started off with a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Barcelona, but in their next game they beat Milan thanks to a last minute winner and then beat Besiktas 6-0. Meanwhile, Barcelona were beaten 3-0 in Turkey and then lost 2-0 at home to Milan. Only a late equaliser against Leeds gave the Spanish side any hope going into the final round of games, but Leeds 1-1 draw in Milan meant that Barca's 5-0 win over Besiktas was to no avail with Milan and Leeds qualifying.


Leeds v Milan/Besiktas v Barcelona


In the second group stage, Manchester United and Valencia both went through Group A undefeated to comfortably qualify ahead of Sturm Graz and Panathinaikos.


Sturm Graz v Manchester United/Sturm Graz v Valencia


Real Madrid won their first three games to effectively take control of the group. Leeds again began badly, losing 2-0 at home to Real, but they then won 1-0 away to Lazio before doing the double over Anderlecht to go through to the quarter-finals in second place.


Lazio v Leeds/Real Madrid v Anderlecht


Ten points from their first four games saw Bayern Munich on their way to winning Group B. Spartak Moscow beat Arsenal 4-1 in their opener but failed to win another game and finished bottom of the group. This left Arsenal and Lyon to battle it out for second spot. Arsenal won in Lyon and only a late equaliser saved a point for the French side in London. But in the end it was only Lyon's failure to win in Moscow in their last game that allowed Arsenal to make it through to the quarter-finals.


Arsenal v Bayern Munich/Arsenal v Lyon


Paris St Germain, Deportivo and Milan were all beaten by Galatasaray in Istanbul to see the Turks through to the next round. Milan only lost one game, but four draws were not enough to see them qualify and it was Deportivo who came through to top the group.


Galatasaray v Milan/Deportivo La Coruna v Galatasaray


Two of the quarter-finals pitted English teams with Spanish sides. Leeds took a giant stride towards the last four when they beat Deportivo La Coruna 3-0 in their first leg. Deportivo came back strongly in the second leg, but a 2-0 was not enough to overturn the deficit.


2001 (April 4) Leeds United (England) 3... by sp1873
Leeds v Deportivo La Coruna


In the other Anglo Spanish encounter it was the Spaniards who came out on top. Valencia took a first half lead in London, but two quick second half goals gave Arsenal a narrow first leg lead. It looked as though Arsenal might hang on in Spain, but a Carew header 15 minutes from time put Valencia through on away goals. The tie between Manchester United and Bayern turned when Paulo Sergio scored a late winner for the Germans at Old Trafford. Two first half goals for Bayern in Munich put the tie virtually out of Uniteds reach and Bayern ended up going through 3-1 on aggregate. Galatasaray won a thrilling first leg encounter as they came from two goals behind against Real Madrid to take a 3-2 lead. But in Madrid, Real scored three goals in the first half to win the tie 5-3 on aggregate.


Galatasaray Real Madrid 3-2 2001 by Haberdesin
Galatasaray v Real Madrid


In the semi-finals, Leeds were unable to repeat their previous heroics. Their home leg ended in a goalless draw, and in the return Valencia were comfortable 3-0 winners and they progressed to another Champions League final.


2001 (May 8) Valencia (Spain) 3-Leeds United... by sp1873
Valencia v Leeds


But 2001 was not going to see a repeat of the previous years final as Bayern Munich shocked the holders Real Madrid. A 1-0 win in Madrid put the Germans in command and a 2-1 win in Munich put Bayern through to the final.



Bayern Munich v Real Madrid


The 2001 Champions League Final was the 'Penalty Final.' First Mendieta gave Valencia the lead from the penalty spot. then Scholl missed a penalty for Bayern. When Bayern were awarded another penalty Effenberg made no mistake and the game finished 1-1 which meant that there had to be a penalty shootout. Both teams missed two of their first five spot kicks, but when Pellegrino's penalty was saved by Kahn, Bayern won the shootout 5-4 to erase the memory of their 1999 defeat. Valencia, meanwhile, had suffered final defeat for the second year in a row.

2001 European Cup Final (Milan)
Bayern Munich 1 Valencia 1 (5-4 penalties)
Bayern Munich:
Kahn, Kuffour, Andersson, Linke, Sagnol (Jancker), Hargreaves, Effenberg, Lizarazu, Scholl (Paulo Sergio), Elber (Zickler), Salihamidzic
Scorer: Effenberg (penalty scorers: Salihamidzic, Zickler, Effenberg, Lizarazu, Linke)
Valencia: Canizares, Angloma, Ayala (Djukic), Pellegrino, Carboni, Mendieta, Baraja, Sanchez (Zahovic), Kily Gonzalez, Aimar (Albelda), Carew
Scorer: Mendieta (penalty scorers: Mendieta, Carew, Baraja, Kily Gonzalez)

You can find details of all the results, dates and scorers on the RSSSF website here.

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