 Feyenoord went straight to the Group stage of the Champions League after finishing second in the Eredivisie but were eliminated after only winning one game, and finishing six points behind Sparta Prague, and were consequently drawn against SC Freiburg of Germany in the third round of the UEFA Cup. Feyenoord won the first leg 1 – 0, after a late goal from Shinji Ono. The second leg was drawn 2 – 2, however Feyenoord came close to going out, as Freiburg took a 2 – 0 lead on 49 minutes with goals from Sebastian Kehl and Levan Kobiashvili, to make the aggregate score 2 – 1 in Freiburg's favour. But on 57 minutes, Pierre van Hooijdonk pulled a goal back, to make it 2 – 2 on aggregate, which would see Feyenoord going through due to the away goal rule. Feyenoord secured their place in the fourth round when Leonardo scored in the 86th minute. Feyenoord faced Rangers of Scotland in the fourth round with the tie proving to be a close affair. The first leg ended 1 – 1, in Glasgow, Feyenoord had gone ahead on seventy two minutes through Shinji Ono, but Rangers equalised after Peter Løvenkrands was brought down by Glenn Loovens on 81 minutes. Barry Ferguson scored the subsequent penalty. The second leg in Rotterdam ended 3 – 2 in Feyenoord's favor, the match was notable for the sending off of one player on each side Patrick Paauwe for Feyenoord and Neil McCann for Rangers.
