1999–2000 UEFA Champions League
The 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League was the 45th season of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA's premier European club football tournament, and the eighth season since its rebranding from the "European Champion Clubs' Cup" or "European Cup". The competition was won by Real Madrid, who clinched a historic eighth title win by beating fellow La Liga side, Valencia in the final. The final was hosted in the Stade de France in Paris, the city where the original roots of the competition had begun nearly 50 years earlier.
The Stade de France in Saint-Denis held the final | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | Qualifying: 13 July – 25 August 1999 Competition proper: 14 September 1999 – 24 May 2000 |
| Teams | Competition proper: 32 Total: 71 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Real Madrid (8th title) |
| Runners-up | Valencia |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 157 |
| Goals scored | 442 (2.82 per match) |
| Attendance | 5,495,112 (35,001 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Raúl (Real Madrid) Rivaldo (Barcelona) Mário Jardel (Porto) 10 goals each |
Just after two years of allowing runners-up of strongest continental leagues to enter the tournament, UEFA went even further and expanded the tournament to up to four strongest teams from Europe's top national leagues. As a result, the tournament was a stark contrast from 1996–97 (which took place only three years prior) where only top national champions and title holders participated.
The competition was dominated by the Spanish teams, with three of the four semi-finalists coming from Spain, namely Real Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona. The final between Real Madrid and Valencia marked the first time that both finalists in the competition had come from the same country.
Manchester United were the defending champions, but were eliminated by eventual winners Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.