page_title: History of Deportivo La Coruña
section_title: 2003/2004: Final four in Europe
hierarchical_section_title: History of Deportivo La Coruña / 2000-2004: 'Eurodepor' joins European 'Big Boys' / 2003/2004: Final four in Europe
caption_attribution_description: English: Walter Pandiani
context_page_description: Deportivo La Coruña is a Spanish soccer team.
context_section_description: Besides, at the start of the season 2003/2004 Deportivo were obligated to play pre-round European matches for the first time in their history. And the club had to cope with a tough Champions League pre-round draw as Rosenborg were attached to the Galicians. And a tough task it became because after 180 minutes of football just one goal was scored between the two sides. Luckily it concerned Albert Luque's goal in Riazor (1-0) after a 0–0 draw in Norway. For the fifth time in a row Deportivo had qualified for the Champions League, a great achievement in Spanish (and European) football.
  But before the first European match was to be played there were three matches in the Primera División. The start of the team was perfect as all of them were won, including two difficult away matches. The first match of the season was broken up near its end when Walter Pandiani scored the only goal at newly promoted Real Zaragoza (0-1). The midweek home match against Athlétic de Bilbao was a simple prey (2-0) and ten days later another important victory was achieved at Sevilla (1-2). So Deportivo had a perfect score after three matches and led the standings with two points over Real Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. Besides, Walter Pandiani had scored three goals in three matches and promised to become important this season while the defence looked tight.
  The scoring drift of Pandiani, who had returned from a loan spell at Mallorca, was amazing as he scored eight matches in a row. After his three goals during the start of the Spanish season he earned Deportivo a point in Greece against AEK Athens (1-1) during the first match of the Champions League group. He scored another (from the spot) against PSV Eindhoven during a 2-0 European home victory and scored two more (against Albacete and Osasuna Pamplona). But while the home match against little Albacete didn't cause problems (3-0), Deportivo lost its first match of the season at Osasuna (3-2) after a 3–0 score. Valencia took over the lead in the Primera División and the Galicians took a step back to earth.
  But October proved to be an excellent month as three out of four Liga matches were won, Deportivo survived in the Copa del Rey and achieved its second European victory. The Liga wins obtained in Riazor were against Atlético de Madrid (5-1) and Valencia (2-1) while a serious team achieved a brilliant 0–2 victory at the Nou Camp. It was the third win of Deportivo in this stadium out of the last four encounters and the poor Catalans suffered. After the win against Valencia the Galicians led the Primera División again and the team looked stable. A line-up filled with many reserves achieved a late Copa victory at regional rivals Compostela, but this match was overshadowed by the violent death of Deportivo supporter Manuel Ríos Suárez.
  In Europe the team remained unbeaten as an important victory was achieved at home against AS Monaco (1-0). A goal of Diego Tristán was enough to give the Galicians seven points after three matches although this time luck was on Deportivo's side. The team suffered against the French side and were fortunate to keep the points at home, something which didn't happen against Mallorca on 29 October. Deportivo lost its first home match that season (0-2) and saw the gap being narrowed to just one point.
  November didn't prove to be as successful as October as the team lost its steam. The four Liga matches that month only delivered five points and Deportivo dropped to the third place behind Valencia and Real Madrid. There were 0-0 draws at Murcia and Betis Sevilla while the team even lost its home match against Villarreal (0-1). The only domestical highlight that month was a 2–1 victory against Real Sociedad after being 0-1 down. This match was played just three days after Deportivo suffered the worst humiliation in their history: an 8–3 defeat at AS Monaco. Despite a great goal of Diego Tristán, which even was crowned Eurosports's Goal of the Year, the team looked completely lost. During the break Molina was left behind sick in the dressing room and within minutes his replaceme
caption: Walter Pandiani.
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