Baía was in great shape again in 2002–03, helping his team win the league title, the cup and the UEFA Cup, appearing in 11 of 13 matches in the latter competition, including the semi-finals against S.S. Lazio where he saved a penalty kick, and the final against Celtic. It would not be until the following campaign when he regained full fitness again, and he would have one of the most impressive years of his career, winning the UEFA Champions League and his seventh league trophy – in the former competition, he played all matches and minutes as Porto beat AS Monaco FC in the final (3–0) and, consequently, he was selected as the "UEFA Club Best Goalkeeper of the Year", being the first Portuguese goalkeeper to win this individual title. This was not, however, good enough for Euro 2004 – played on home soil – selection, with Sporting CP's Ricardo being controversially preferred. Later, in 2007, in a FIFA.com interview, Baía said: "(...) It's kind of strange because I was voted as being the best goalkeeper in Europe in the 2003/04 season and a few days before the squad for UEFA EURO 2004 was announced I'd won the Portuguese championship and the UEFA Champions League and even then I wasn't called up"; at the end of the season he was named in the list for "IFFHS' World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year 2004", finishing eighth in the voting while Ricardo ranked 19th.