# 2000–01 Valencia CF season

Valencia CF once again reached the Champions League final. Finishing only 5th in La Liga, Valencia focused most of its resources on the international competition, a late goal from new signing John Carew helping them knock Arsenal out of the tournament in the quarter finals. The semis consisted of going against Leeds United, not present at that level for more than 25 years. Winning 3–0 at home following the goalless draw in the first match, Los Che became one of the relatively few clubs reaching consecutive finals, facing Bayern Munich.
In the final itself, Valencia got a penalty kick straightaway, which was converted by captain Gaizka Mendieta. A few minutes later Mehmet Scholl failed to convert a penalty, which Santiago Cañizares saved, but Stefan Effenberg later scored from a second penalty kick. The penalty taking was not over, since the result was 1-1 after extra time, and Bayern got the upper hand in the shootout, with Valencia coming agonizingly close to becoming the third Spanish club to win the Champions League.
Following the end of the season, Gaizka Mendieta was sold to Lazio for a club-record fee. Coach Héctor Cúper was recruited by Inter to break their title drought, being replaced by surprise choice Rafael Benítez.

## Players
### Squad information

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 | Santiago Cañizares |
| 2 | DF | ARG | Mauricio Pellegrino |
| 3 | DF | SWE | Joachim Björklund |
| 4 | MF | FRA | Didier Deschamps |
| 5 | MF | SRB | Miroslav Đukić |
| 6 | MF | ESP | Gaizka Mendieta (captain) |
| 7 | FW | NOR | John Carew |
| 8 | MF | SVN | Zlatko Zahovic |
| 9 | FW | URU | Diego Alonso |
| 10 | MF | ESP | Angulo |
| 11 | FW | ROU | Adrian Ilie |
| 12 | DF | ARG | Roberto Ayala |
| 13 | GK | ESP | Jorge Bartual |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | MF | ESP | Vicente |
| 15 | DF | ITA | Amedeo Carboni |
| 16 | DF | BRA | Fábio Aurélio |
| 17 | FW | ESP | Juan Sánchez |
| 18 | MF | ARG | Kily González |
| 19 | MF | ESP | Rubén Baraja |
| 20 | DF | FRA | Jocelyn Angloma |
| 21 | MF | ESP | Luis Milla |
| 22 | MF | ARG | Pablo Aimar |
| 23 | MF | ESP | David Albelda |
| 25 | GK | ESP | Andrés Palop |
| 29 | GK | ESP | Jonathan |

### Transfers

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| MF | Ruben Baraja | Atletico Madrid | € 10.8 million |
| FW | John Carew | Rosenborg BK | € 8.5 million |
| MF | Didier Deschamps | Chelsea F.C. | €3.50 million |
| MF | Zlatko Zahovic | Olympiacos | € 8.0 million |
| FW | Diego Alonso | Gimnasia y Esgrima | €7.65 million |
| DF | Roberto Ayala | AC Milan | € 5.00 million |
| MF | Vicente | Levante UD | € 4.80 million |
| MF | Pablo Aimar | River Plate | € 21.25 million |
| DF | Fabio Aurelio | São Paulo FC | |
| FW | Mista | CD Tenerife | Free |
| DF | Curro Torres | Recreativo Huelva | loan ended |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| MF | Gerard | FC Barcelona | € 21.60 million |
| MF | Francisco Javier Farinós | Internazionale | € 16.25 million |
| FW | Claudio Lopez | SS Lazio | € 23.0 million |
| FW | Oscar Garcia | RCD Espanyol | |
| DF | Daniel Fagiani | Boca Juniors | |
| FW | Goran Vlaovic | Panathinaikos | |
| DF | Soria | CD Numancia | |
| DF | Dennis Serban | Elche CF | |
| DF | Camarasa | | |
| FW | Mista | CD Tenerife | loan |
| DF | Curro Torres | CD Tenerife | loan |
| DF | Alain Roche | Girondins Bordeaux | |

### 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 |
| 13 | GK | ESP | Jorge Bartual (to Tenerife) |
| 16 | DF | PAR | Ángel Amarilla (on loan to Getafe) |
| 22 | MF | ESP | Líbero Parri (on loan to Elche) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 24 | MF | ESP | Gerardo (on loan to Osasuna) |
| 27 | DF | ESP | Curro Montoya (to Numancia) |

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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 3 | Mallorca | 38 | 20 | 11 | 7 | 61 | 43 | +18 | 71 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round |
| 4 | Barcelona | 38 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 80 | 57 | +23 | 63 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round |
| 5 | Valencia | 38 | 18 | 9 | 11 | 55 | 34 | +21 | 63 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Celta Vigo | 38 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 51 | 49 | +2 | 59 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 7 | Villarreal | 38 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 58 | 52 | +6 | 57 | |
* 1 2 VAL 0–1 BAR; BAR 3–2 VAL

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | L | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | L | D | D | W | D | W | W | D | W | L | L | L | D | W | W | W | D | W | L | L | W | L | D | W | W | L | W | D | L | L |
| Position | 15 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 |

#### Topscorers

* Juan Sánchez 12
* John Carew 11
* Gaizka Mendieta 9
* Vicente 5
* Rubén Baraja 4

### UEFA Champions League
#### Qualifying
#### 1st Group Stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | VAL | LYO | OLY | HVN |
| 1 | Valencia | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 13 | Advance to second group stage | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| 2 | Lyon | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 9 | Advance to second group stage | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 3–1 |
| 3 | Olympiacos | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 9 | Transfer to UEFA Cup | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | 2–0 |
| 4 | Heerenveen | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 4 | | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | — |

#### 2nd Group Stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | VAL | MUN | STM | PAN |
| 1 | Valencia | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 2 | +8 | 12 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 12 | Advance to knockout stage | 1–1 | — | 3–0 | 3–1 |
| 3 | Sturm Graz | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 13 | −9 | 6 | | 0–5 | 0–2 | — | 2–0 |
| 4 | Panathinaikos | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 2 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | — |

#### Final
## Statistics
### Players statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | La Liga | La Liga | Copa del Rey | Copa del Rey | Champions League | Champions League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | ESP | Cañizares | 55 | -43 | 37 | -34 | 0 | 0 | 18 | -9 |
| 20 | DF | FRA | Angloma | 46 | 1 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17+1 | 1 |
| 5 | DF | SRB | Djukic | 47 | 0 | 29+5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10+2 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | ARG | Ayala | 39 | 3 | 27+1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 2 |
| 2 | DF | ARG | Pellegrino | 46 | 0 | 24+3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | ITA | Carboni | 39 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | ESP | Baraja | 52 | 7 | 34+1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 2 |
| 14 | MF | ESP | Vicente | 49 | 6 | 20+13 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 5+9 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | ESP | Mendieta | 47 | 14 | 31 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 4 |
| 7 | FW | NOR | Carew | 57 | 14 | 32+5 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 11+7 | 3 |
| 17 | FW | ESP | Sánchez | 49 | 17 | 26+6 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 11+4 | 5 |
| 25 | GK | ESP | Palop | 4 | -5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -4 | 1 | -1 |
| 10 | MF | ESP | Angulo | 40 | 1 | 20+8 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7+3 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | ARG | Kily González | 36 | 5 | 19+3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 2 |
| 23 | MF | ESP | Albelda | 34 | 0 | 15+6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8+5 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | SWE | Björklund | 16 | 0 | 9+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | SVN | Zahovic | 31 | 6 | 8+12 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5+5 | 1 |
| 22 | MF | ARG | Aimar | 18 | 2 | 8+2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6+2 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | FRA | Deschamps | 21 | 0 | 7+6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6+1 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | BRA | Fábio Aurélio | 9 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | URU | Alonso | 33 | 8 | 6+14 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8+4 | 6 |
| 11 | FW | ROU | Ilie | 13 | 0 | 4+6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | ESP | Milla | 12 | 0 | 3+3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | ESP | Gerardo | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | ESP | Bartual | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* Source:

## Sources

* Soccerbase - Valencia CF