The Beautiful Valencia CF 1998-2004

The club had a mixed 1997-98 season where the club finished 9th in La Liga but won the Intertoto Cup. The 1998-99 season will be the real season of Valencia CF's rise to power. At the start of the season, still with Claudio Ranieri (his second season at the club), the club had a huge transfer window. In total, 13 players are leaving the club, among them we find the Spanish legend Andoni Zubizarreta, the Peruvian midfielder José del Solar and the attacking midfielder Ariel Ortega.

In terms of arrivals, Santiago Cañizares, 29, is recruited to be the new starting goalkeeper. Alain Roche, the French central defender arrives with his great experience at the high level. In total, 9 players are recruited and consolidate a squad made up of players such as Claudio López, Miguel Ángel Angulo, Gaizka Mendieta, Luis Milla, Amadeo Carboni and Jocelyn Angloma.

During this 1998-99 Liga, Valencia created a surprise by finishing 4th in the championship. The club scored 63 goals in the league, and conceded 39. In total, the club finished with 65 points, 19 wins, 8 draws, 11 defeats. The club will have had prestigious successes, 1-0 against Atlético Madrid, 3-1 against Real Madrid, 4-2 against FC Barcelona or even 4-1 against Athletic Bilbao.

In the Copa del Rey, the club won the final against Atlético Madrid 3-0, with a double from Piojo López and a goal from Mendieta. The club notably eliminated Levante 4-0 on aggregate, and FC Barcelona 7-5 then Real Madrid 7-2. This is one of the finest Spanish Cup campaigns in history. Piojo Lopez will have scored 9 goals in the competition and Mendieta 4. The club also won the Spanish Super Cup 4-3 on aggregate against FC Barcelona. A successful season.

One player will have enhanced Valencia's exceptional season, Claudio López who scored 38 goals in 47 matches. Miguel Ángel Angulo scored 12 goals in 52 matches and Gaizka Mendieta 12 goals in 54 matches. Santiago Cañizares has had a magnificent season, 54 matches played, 54 goals conceded and 22 clean sheets.

The 1999-2000 season marked a change of coach, goodbye Ranieri and his 4-2-3-1 and welcome to Héctor Cúper, the Argentine coach who favors a 4-4-2.

Gaizka Mendieta is repositioned as right midfielder and has had an exceptional season, scoring 19 goals in 53 games. The club is in transition to become a big club and continues to have a big transfer window: 10 arrivals for 9 departures.

With this new tactic, Valencia had another good season and finished 3rd in the championship, behind a surprising Deportivo La Coruña and FC Barcelona. Valencia finished on 64 points, 5 points behind the champion, 18 wins, 10 draws, 10 defeats, 59 goals scored and 39 goals conceded.

The club could have aimed much higher without its poor results at the start of the season: 4 defeats in the first 4 La Liga matches. The club will have finished La Liga in the best way with 6 victories in the last 7 matches. In the Spanish Cup, 3-2 defeat in the first round against Osasuna.

The 1999–2000 edition of the Champions League featured a whole different format to the competition. An additional qualifying round was introduced to generate two group stages, firstly with 32 teams – eight groups of four – who played six matches each to reduce the competition to 16 teams for the second group stage, with the eight third-placed teams moving to the UEFA Cup third round. At the end of the second group stage, eight teams remained to contest the knock-out stage.

In the Champions League, the club finished first in the first group stage made up of FC Bayern Munich, Rangers and PSG Eindhoven without losing any matches (4 wins, 2 draws). Then finished second in the second group stage made up of Manchester United, Fiorentina and Bordeaux (3 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses).

In the quarter-final, the club faced Lazio, winning 5-3 on aggregate with the first leg ending 5-2 in Spain. Then won against FC Barcelona 5-3 on aggregate in the semi-final. The final is sad for Valencia, the team cannot beat the Galacticos who win 3-0 with goals from Morientes 39', McManaman 67' and Raúl 75'.

The transfer window for the 2000-2001 season will be of the same ilk, Claudio Lopez leaves the club for Lazio Rome for 23 million euros, Gerard leaves for FC Barcelona for a little more than 21 million euros. 12 players leave the club.

In the opposite direction, Pablo Aimar is the big recruit for Valencia, he joins the team for a little more than 21 million euros. He is accompanied by big names such as Didier Deschamps, the captain of the French team, recently World and European Champion. Roberto Ayala also joins the club, we also find the names of John Carew, Diego Alonso and Zlatko Zahovic.

In La Liga, the club stagnated and finished 5th in the championship with 63 points, 18 wins, 9 draws, 11 defeats, for 55 goals scored and 34 conceded. Gaizka Mendieta is having another good season in all competitions, scoring 14 goals in 47 matches. Didier Deschamps is struggling to win due to physical problems. Defensively the team is aging with Jocelyn Angloma (35 years old), Amedeo Carboni (36 years old) and Miroslav Djukic (35 years old) still starting. Santiago Cañizares once again had a very good season, 55 matches played, 43 goals conceded and 24 clean sheets.

Valencia loses in the Spanish Cup in the 32nd finals. In the first group stage of the Champions League, Valencia is in a group made up of Lyon, Olympiacos and Heerenven. They logically finished first in the group with 4 victories, 1 draw and 1 defeat. Valencia is not a team that scores a lot, but having a superb defense consolidated by the arrival of Ayala, it is formidable.

In the second group stage, Valencia finds itself with Manchester United, Sturm Graz and Panathinaikos. The club comes out first in the group to everyone's surprise. The club is 1st on goal difference, having achieved the feat of drawing 2 matches against Manchester United and either drawing or winning the other matches.

In the quarter-final, the club won against Arsenal with a cumulative score of 2-2 and having the chance to count on the away goal rule. In the next round, the semi-final offers us a unique poster, a Valencia-Leeds United, who would have believed it. Valencia quietly won 3-0 on aggregate. In the final, the club finds a European leader, Bayern Munich, the match will be decided on penalties, at the end of regulation time, the score is 1-1 (goal from Effenberg and Mendieta, both on penalties). The penalty shootout will be cruel for Valencia, which loses its second Champions League final in a row (5-4 in favor of Bayern).

The 2001-2002 season heralded the departure of the Argentine coach in favor of Rafa Benítez who reestablished a 4-2-3-1. Didier Deschamps is retiring, just like Luis Milla. Gaizka Mendieta is sold to Lazio Rome for 48 million. Other players leave the club.

Among the arrivals, we can note the return of Curro Torres who takes the place of Jocelyn Angloma in the squad. Other minor players join the club. But this season will be one of consecration. Valencia only suffered its first defeat in the league on the 14th day against Real Sociedad. In total, the club will only have 5 defeats in the league and have a perfect final rush. In the last 17 La Liga matches, the club has won 13, including a 2-0 against FC Barcelona, ​​a 4-0 against Real Sociedad and even a 2-0 against Betis on the last day.

The club finished as champion of Spain with 75 points, 7 more than Deportivo La Coruna which is the surprise team of the Spanish championship of this period. The Club had one of the best seasons in its history, 21 wins, 12 draws and 5 defeats, for 51 goals scored and 27 goals conceded. In the UEFA Cup, the club was eliminated in the quarter-finals. Unfortunately the club was defeated 4-0 on aggregate by Deportivo La Coruna in the Spanish Super Cup.

The team will have been carried by its Argentinian players who are Ayala and Aimar, the first is the boss of the defense, one of the best Argentinian defenders in history. The second is a genius, very technically gifted and with excellent passing quality.

The 2002-03 season saw a first reasonable transfer window, with only one major recruit: Anthony Réveillère. Jocelyn Angloma is retiring.

Valencia finished in 5th place in the championship, 17 wins, 9 draws and 12 defeats, 60 points, 56 goals scored and 35 conceded. Pablo Aimar had an exceptional individual season with 46 matches in all competitions for 11 goals scored. A little young man named Vicente established himself on the left wing and had a great season at the age of 21, 41 games played for 1 goal, but a great contribution in both defensive and offensive play. Amedeo Carboni and his 38 years are still there, 43 matches played for him.

Another youngster makes his debut, Raúl Albiol, who at 17 plays his first match with Valencia. Réveillère and Curro Torres share the matches on the right flank. Roberto Ayala continues to establish himself as one of the best defenders in the world.

In the Spanish Cup the record is bad, elimination in the 32nd final. In the Champions League, things are already more positive with a first group stage won in 1st place in a group made up of Liverpool, Basel and Spartak Moscow. 5 wins and 1 draw. With two great victories 2-0 and 1-0 against Liverpool.

In the second group stage, the group is a group of death, with Ajax, Arsenal and Roma. However, Valencia repeated its feat and finished first in the group, with only one defeat against AS Roma. But the club was eliminated directly after the group stages in the quarter-finals 2-2 against Inter Milan and the away goal rule.

Valencia will have a historic season during that of 2003-04, first of all, Réveillère in search of playing time joins Lyon. Kily González joins Inter. At the same time, the club does not go crazy and recruits with small transfers.

It will pay off since Valencia wins the Spanish championship with 77 points, 5 points ahead of FC Barcelona. 23 wins, 8 draws, 7 losses. Mista carries the team offensively with his 22 goals scored in 46 matches in all competitions. The club was eliminated in the Spanish Cup in the quarter-final against Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate. The club lost the Spanish Super Cup again, 3-2 against Real Zaragoza.

In the Europa League, the club is finally going all the way in Europe. They successively eliminated AIK, the Swedish club 2-0 on aggregate with goals from Mista and Oliveira. Then Maccabi Haifa 4-0 on aggregate, again a goal from Mista. Then, they eliminated Besiktas 5-2 on aggregate and the other Turkish club Gençlerbirliği 2-1 on aggregate (1 goal from Mista).

Rufete will be the man of the quarter-finals as he scores a goal in the first leg and one in the second leg, a 4-2 victory against Bordeaux on aggregate. In the semi-final, the club faced another Spanish club, that of Villareal, which they beat with difficulty 1-0 on a goal from Mista in the 16th minute of the return match.

In the final, Mista and Vicente (on a penalty) offered the European coronation to Valencia, which won 2-0 against Olympique de Marseille in front of 39,000 supporters. Mista finished 5th top scorer in the competition with his 5 goals. Cañizares undoubtedly had his best season with 44 matches, 27 goals conceded and 25 clean sheets. Amedeo Carboni will have shown longevity, winning this Europa League by starting at 39 and ending his career at 41 in Valencia.

The club, however, achieved a feat since it also won the UEFA Super Cup 2-1 against Porto thanks to goals from Baraja (33rd minutes) and Di Vaio (67th minutes). The club was also voted best club of the year in the world. This was the best season in the history of the club which subsequently gradually fell back towards the middle/top of the table.