In the late 1990s, the club played two consecutive seasons in the UEFA Champions League group stage. In the 1998–99 season, they were drawn in a group with Ajax, Olympiacos and Porto. After disappointing performances in the first three matches, in which they managed to draw against Ajax at home and lost their away matches against Olympiacos and Porto, they performed well in the remaining three matches, beating Porto at home and Ajax away, as well as drawing Olympiacos at home. However, they failed to advance to the quarter-finals as the second-placed team behind Olympiacos. In the 1999–2000 season, they were drawn in a group with defending champions Manchester United, Marseille and Sturm Graz, but managed only a fourth-place finish in the group with two draws and one win. They most notably held Manchester United to a goalless draw at Old Trafford in their opening Champions League match that season. The club also competed in two consecutive seasons of UEFA Cup—in 1996, they were knocked out in the qualifying round, while in the 1997, they managed to reach the third round, losing to Atlético Madrid 2–1 on aggregate score.