# 2001–02 Deportivo de La Coruña season

The 2001–02 season was Deportivo de La Coruña's 31st season in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. They also competed in the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League.

## Season summary

Javier Irureta's fourth season in charge of Deportivo was another successful one, as they finished as La Liga runners-up for the second consecutive year, seven points behind champions Valencia. Diego Tristán's 20 league goals saw him become the first Depor player to win the Pichichi Trophy since Bebeto in 1992–93. Deportivo also tasted success in the Copa del Rey, beating Real Madrid in the final to lift the trophy for the second time in their history, and the first since 1994–95.
In the UEFA Champions League, they progressed as group winners from the first group stage. They were undefeated in their six matches, which included a fine 3–2 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford. They received a tough draw in the second group stage, where they faced Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen and Juventus. Despite two defeats by the German side, they progressed as runners-up, level on points with group winners Leverkusen. They once again faced Manchester United in the quarter-finals, but couldn't repeat the success of the group stages as the English side won 5–2 on aggregate. Depor's quarter-final exit matched their performance from the previous year.

## Players
### Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | ESP | José Francisco Molina |
| 2 | DF | ESP | Manuel Pablo |
| 3 | DF | ESP | Enrique Romero |
| 4 | DF | MAR | Noureddine Naybet |
| 5 | DF | ESP | César Martín |
| 6 | MF | BRA | Mauro Silva |
| 7 | FW | NED | Roy Makaay |
| 8 | MF | BRA | Djalminha |
| 9 | FW | ESP | Diego Tristán |
| 10 | MF | ESP | Fran (captain) |
| 11 | MF | ESP | José Amavisca |
| 12 | MF | ARG | Lionel Scaloni |
| 13 | GK | POR | Nuno Espírito Santo |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | MF | BRA | Emerson |
| 15 | DF | ESP | Joan Capdevila |
| 16 | MF | ESP | Sergio |
| 17 | FW | URU | Walter Pandiani |
| 18 | MF | ESP | Víctor Sánchez |
| 19 | DF | YUG | Goran Đorović |
| 20 | MF | ESP | Donato |
| 21 | MF | ESP | Juan Carlos Valerón |
| 22 | DF | POR | Hélder |
| 23 | MF | ARG | Aldo Duscher |
| 24 | DF | ESP | Héctor |
| 25 | MF | ESP | José Manuel |
| 26 | GK | ESP | Dani Mallo |

#### Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | BRA | César Sampaio (to Corinthians) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | ESP | Changui (on loan to Polideportivo Ejido) |
| — | FW | URU | Sebastian Abreu (on loan at Nacional) |

#### Out on loan for the full season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | ESP | Manel (on loan at Tenerife) |
| — | MF | ESP | Fernando (on loan at Osasuna) |
| — | MF | ESP | Jaime (on loan at Tenerife) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | ARG | Turu Flores (on loan at Real Valladolid) |
| — | FW | ESP | Iván Pérez (on loan at Leganés) |
| — | FW | URU | Sebastian Abreu (on loan at Cruz Azul) (January) |

### Transfers
#### In

| # | Pos | Player | From | Notes |
| Summer |||||
| 11 | MF | José Amavisca | Racing Santander | 300 million Pta |
| 13 | GK | Nuno Espírito Santo | Osasuna | Loan return |
| 16 | MF | Sergio | Espanyol | |
| 19 | DF | Goran Đorović | Celta Vigo | |
| 24 | DF | Héctor | Sevilla | Free |
| 25 | MF | José Manuel | Numancia | Loan return |
| | DF | Manel | Numancia | Loan return |
| | DF | Luis Miguel Ramis | Racing Santander | Loan return |
| | MF | Jaime | Racing Santander | Loan return |
| | FW | Changui | Elche | Loan return |
| | FW | Iván Pérez | Numancia | Loan return |
| | MF | Cesar Sampaio | Palmeiras | |

#### Out

| # | Pos | Player | To | Notes |
| Summer |||||
| 1 | GK | Jacques Songo'o | Metz | |
| 11 | FW | Turu Flores | Real Valladolid | Loan |
| 19 | FW | Salaheddine Bassir | Lille OSC | |
| 25 | MF | Fernando | Osasuna | Loan |
| 31 | GK | Petr Kouba | Jablonec | |
| | DF | Manel | Tenerife | Loan |
| | DF | Luis Miguel Ramis | Gimnàstic de Tarragona | |
| | MF | Jaime | Tenerife | Loan |
| | FW | Iván Pérez | Leganés | Loan |
| Winter |||||
| | MF | César Sampaio | Corinthians | |
| | FW | Changui | Polideportivo Ejido | Loan |

### Squad stats
#### Appearances and goals

Last updated on 7 April 2021.
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | La Liga | La Liga | Copa del Rey | Copa del Rey | Champ League | Champ League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | ESP | Molina | 50 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 12 | MF | ARG | Lionel Scaloni | 42 | 2 | 21+4 | 2 | 5+1 | 0 | 8+3 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | MAR | Naybet | 38 | 4 | 24 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 2 |
| 3 | DF | ESP | Romero | 38 | 0 | 23+1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | ESP | Víctor Sánchez | 40 | 4 | 25+4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | BRA | Mauro Silva | 42 | 0 | 25+2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | ESP | Fran | 36 | 5 | 22+2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| 16 | MF | ESP | Sergio | 52 | 6 | 28+10 | 4 | 2+2 | 1 | 7+3 | 1 |
| 21 | AM | ESP | Valeron | 53 | 6 | 32+4 | 3 | 3+1 | 0 | 10+3 | 3 |
| 7 | FW | NED | Makaay | 41 | 14 | 22+8 | 12 | 1+1 | 1 | 5+4 | 1 |
| 9 | FW | ESP | Tristan | 52 | 31 | 25+9 | 20 | 5+1 | 5 | 10+2 | 6 |
| 13 | GK | POR | Nuno | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | ESP | Manuel Pablo | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | ESP | Cesar | 29 | 1 | 15+2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | BRA | Djalminha | 32 | 3 | 5+13 | 1 | 4+2 | 0 | 3+5 | 2 |
| 11 | MF | ESP | José Amavisca | 38 | 3 | 16+12 | 3 | 1+1 | 0 | 4+4 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | BRA | Emerson | 25 | 0 | 3+12 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | ESP | Capdevila | 35 | 2 | 18+2 | 0 | 4+3 | 1 | 3+5 | 1 |
| 17 | FW | URU | Pandiani | 33 | 8 | 3+15 | 5 | 3+2 | 2 | 3+7 | 1 |
| 19 | DF | YUG | Goran Đorović | 12 | 0 | 8+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | BRA | Donato | 28 | 2 | 17 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 7+1 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | POR | Hélder | 13 | 0 | 7+2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | ARG | Duscher | 35 | 0 | 18+3 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 | 5+4 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | ESP | Héctor | 34 | 0 | 18+3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | ESP | José Manuel | 9 | 1 | 0+4 | 0 | 2+2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | GK | ESP | Mallo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players who have left the club after the start of the season: ||||||||||||
| | MF | BRA | César Sampaio | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ESP | Changui | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goal scorers

| Place | Position | Number | Name | La Liga | Copa del Rey | Champ League | Total |
| 1 | FW | 9 | Diego Tristán | 20 | 5 | 6 | 31 |
| 2 | FW | 7 | Roy Makaay | 12 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| 3 | FW | 17 | Walter Pandiani | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| 4 | MF | 16 | Sergio | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | MF | 21 | Juan Carlos Valerón | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 6 | MF | 10 | Fran | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 7 | DF | 4 | Noureddine Naybet | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 7 | MF | 18 | Víctor Sánchez | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 9 | MF | 8 | Djalminha | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 9 | MF | 11 | José Amavisca | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 11 | MF | 12 | Lionel Scaloni | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | DF | 15 | Joan Capdevila | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | MF | 20 | Donato | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 14 | DF | 5 | César Martín | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | MF | 25 | José Manuel | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| | | | Own goals | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| | | | TOTALS | 65 | 13 | 19 | 97 |

#### Disciplinary record

Updated on 7 April 2021
| Number | Position | Name | La Liga | La Liga | Copa del Rey | Copa del Rey | Champ League | Champ League | Total | Total |
| 12 | MF | Lionel Scaloni | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 1 |
| 23 | MF | Aldo Duscher | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 1 |
| 5 | DF | César Martín | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| 6 | MF | Mauro Silva | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| 18 | MF | Víctor Sánchez | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | Noureddine Naybet | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| 9 | FW | Diego Tristán | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | Joan Capdevila | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | Sergio | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | Héctor | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | Walter Pandiani | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 14 | MF | Emerson | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Enrique Romero | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 1 | GK | José Francisco Molina | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | José Amavisca | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | Donato | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | Djalminha | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | Fran | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | Juan Carlos Valerón | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | José Manuel | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | Goran Đorović | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | Hélder | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | | TOTALS | 74 | 4 | 19 | 2 | 21 | 2 | 114 | 8 |

## Competitions
### La Liga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Valencia (C) | 38 | 21 | 12 | 5 | 51 | 27 | +24 | 75 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Deportivo La Coruña | 38 | 20 | 8 | 10 | 65 | 41 | +24 | 68 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Real Madrid | 38 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 69 | 44 | +25 | 66 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 4 | Barcelona | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 65 | 37 | +28 | 64 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round |
| 5 | Celta Vigo | 38 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 64 | 46 | +18 | 60 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
* ↑ Real Madrid qualified directly for the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League as holders.

#### Matches
### Copa del Rey

Win  Draw  Loss
| Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Goals | Ref |
| Round of 64 | Marino | A | 4–1 | 0–1 13' Benéitez 1–1 36' Martín 2–1 39' Pandiani 3–1 43' Víctor Sánchez 4–1 54' Pandiani | |
| Round of 32 | Cultural Leonesa | A | 2–1 | 0–1 70' Ibáñez 1–1 75' Tristán 2–1 80' Tristán | |
| Round | Opponent | Aggregate | First leg | First leg | First leg | First leg | Second leg | Second leg | Second leg | Second leg |
| Round | Opponent | Aggregate | Venue | Result | Goals | Ref | Venue | Result | Goals | Ref |
| Round of 16 | L'Hospitalet | – | N | – | | | H | – | | |
| Quarter-finals | Real Valladolid | 3–2 | H | 2–0 | 1–0 46' Capdevila 2–0 61' Makaay | | A | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | 0–1 3' Fernando 0–2 34' Mario Abrante 1–2 110' (pen.) Tristán | |
| Semi-finals | Figueres | 2–1 | A | 1–0 | 1–0 5' Tristán | | H | 1–1 | 1–0 6' José Manuel 1–1 90' (pen.) Piti | |
    1.^ Deportivo La Coruña successfully appealed against the first leg of their round of 16 tie being played at Estadi Municipal in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat due to its artificial pitch. When told to move the match to Mini Estadi in Barcelona, L'Hospitalet forfeited the tie.

#### Final
### UEFA Champions League
#### First group stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Deportivo La Coruña | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 10 | Advance to second group stage |
| 2 | Manchester United | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 10 | Advance to second group stage |
| 3 | Lille | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 6 | Transfer to UEFA Cup |
| 4 | Olympiacos | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 12 | −6 | 5 | |

#### Second group stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Bayer Leverkusen | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 10 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Deportivo La Coruña | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 10 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Arsenal | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 7 | |
| 4 | Juventus | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 7 | |

#### Knockout stage
### FIFA Club World Championship

As winners of the 1999–2000 La Liga, Deportivo La Coruña was one of the 12 teams that were invited to the 2001 FIFA Club World Championship, which would be hosted in Spain from 28 July to 12 August 2001. However, the tournament was cancelled, primarily due to the collapse of ISL, which was marketing partner of FIFA at the time.