Champions League 99/2000

[A.T.G 10,773]

If Bayern hadn’t scored that last minute free kick, how do you think we would have done?

Bayern then went on to top the next group stage with eventual champions Real Madrid in it and Valencia went on to the final. 

We played Bayern both games off the pitch and how we left Munich with no points is an absolute mystery.

Anyone think we might have went far?

[A.T.G 10,773]

I should mention that if they didn’t score that free kick we would have qualified second 

[hammer93 15,056]

5 minutes ago, A.T.G said:

I should mention that if they didn’t score that free kick we would have qualified second 

To this day that campaign grates with me.....we were flying under the wee general but got well beat from Valencia  (the scottish Aberdeen) as the press ignorantly called them.....We were better than Bayern in that group but lacked a fair bit against Valencia who did make the final......the following year Bayern beat Valencia in the final....we were close but just a wee bit away... but a god damn closer than the plastic paddys the now.

[Rickshaw77 287]

Michael Mols injury for me was just as big a kick in the nads.

Never really seen the best of him after that sadly.

[roboscot 1,176]

25 minutes ago, hammer93 said:

To this day that campaign grates with me.....we were flying under the wee general but got well beat from Valencia  (the scottish Aberdeen) as the press ignorantly called them.....We were better than Bayern in that group but lacked a fair bit against Valencia who did make the final......the following year Bayern beat Valencia in the final....we were close but just a wee bit away... but a god damn closer than the plastic paddys the now.

My memory from the Bayern match at Ibrox was that we were giving them a right doing but only ahead by 1 goal.  Advocaat took Albertz off and tried to see out the match but Munich came right back into it and put us under a lot of pressure, got a questionable free kick and scored it with the help of a deflection.

If we had gone through, who knows what kind of run we may have gone on.  Ultimately, I don't think we were good enough to get to quarters/semis at that time.

 

[westenclosure2008 794]

The Bayern away game was a huge game for that team. We absolutely played them off the park and hit the woodwork at least 3 times. Then obviously Mols got that injury from an inocuious tackle with Khan. What would he have been if he never got that injury? He was almost unplayable before that injury...I doubt they were good enough to win it though but were good enough to give most teams a game. Never understood why Advocaat sold a good part of that team to bring other players in. 

[A.T.G 10,773]

13 minutes ago, westenclosure2008 said:

The Bayern away game was a huge game for that team. We absolutely played them off the park and hit the woodwork at least 3 times. Then obviously Mols got that injury from an inocuious tackle with Khan. What would he have been if he never got that injury? He was almost unplayable before that injury...I doubt they were good enough to win it though but were good enough to give most teams a game. Never understood why Advocaat sold a good part of that team to bring other players in. 

I remember Valencia being too good for us, but Bayern went onto play Real Madrid in the next group and beat them 4-2 away and 4-1 home. Real obviously went on to win it but I think it showed how good we were. 

[westenclosure2008 794]

9 minutes ago, A.T.G said:

I remember Valencia being too good for us, but Bayern went onto play Real Madrid in the next group and beat them 4-2 away and 4-1 home. Real obviously went on to win it but I think it showed how good we were. 

 Valencia were unreal and in perticular Mendieta. He was unbelievable. I’d put that Valencia team up there with the Juve team as the best teams i’ve seen at Ibrox.

[hammer93 15,056]

9 minutes ago, westenclosure2008 said:

 Valencia were unreal and in perticular Mendieta. He was unbelievable. I’d put that Valencia team up there with the Juve team as the best teams i’ve seen at Ibrox.

Mendieta didn't give Barry Ferguson a kick that night, back then fergie had taken a good few big scalps but mendieta was a class above

[westenclosure2008 794]

18 minutes ago, hammer93 said:

Mendieta didn't give Barry Ferguson a kick that night, back then fergie had taken a good few big scalps but mendieta was a class above

He was the best midfielder in the world then. Did he not play another season then went to Barca and wasnt the same guy then somehow ended up at Middlesbrough!!! Poor guy

[ayrshireger 523]

13 minutes ago, westenclosure2008 said:

He was the best midfielder in the world then. Did he not play another season then went to Barca and wasnt the same guy then somehow ended up at Middlesbrough!!! Poor guy

He had another season at Valencia, then moved to Lazio for something like £35 million or something, to replace Veron and Nedved in their midfield. Think he struggled there and then went to Barca on loan the season afterwards, then after that ended up at Middlesbrough. 

[westenclosure2008 794]

10 minutes ago, ayrshireger said:

He had another season at Valencia, then moved to Lazio for something like £35 million or something, to replace Veron and Nedved in their midfield. Think he struggled there and then went to Barca on loan the season afterwards, then after that ended up at Middlesbrough. 

Poor guy still ended up at Middlesbrough in the end ? Good players also need good managers... What is Gaizka up to these days anyway?

[ayrshireger 523]

28 minutes ago, westenclosure2008 said:

Poor guy still ended up at Middlesbrough in the end ? Good players also need good managers... What is Gaizka up to these days anyway?

That is true!  

Think he's now involved with Sky's coverage of Spanish football. 

[Spliffy 643]

Bayern and that Valencia team in the same group and we should have qualified...heart breaking, still.

For a club our size we have underachieved in Europe, but we've also had no luck whatsoever in a hell of a lot of campaigns. This being one of the hardest to take, in the fairly modern era. A real story of what could have been, especially with the Mols injury.

[McEwan's Lager 30,514]

If we had got through at Bayern’s expense we would have ended up in a second group with Real Madrid, Dynamo Kyiv and Rosenborg. I would have fancied our chances in getting through that.

We were far better than the Chelsea team that got to the quarters.

2000 2001 was more disappointing for me. Blew it at home to Monaco and away at Sturm Graz.

[McEwan's Lager 30,514]

Bayern ended up playing Real in the Semis and I think did the next two years too.

Used to love watching them two go at each other at the time.

 

[Unicorn 12]

30 minutes ago, McEwan's Lager said:

Bayern ended up playing Real in the Semis and I think did the next two years too.

Used to love watching them two go at each other at the time.

 

Real Madrid actually lost 3 times to Bayern that year but still went on to win the entire competition.

This is when the champions league started to get ridiculously bloated.  

[McEwan's Lager 30,514]

2 minutes ago, Unicorn said:

Real Madrid actually lost 3 times to Bayern that year but still went on to win the entire competition.

This is when the champions league started to get ridiculously bloated.  

The two group stages were mental. 

Excluding qualifying it meant if you got to the final you played 17 games. 

I used to love watching it back then. Not so much now until it gets to the knockout stages.

For me nothing will beat 95-96. That was a cracking tournament with teams like Nantes and Panathinaikos doing well. Pity we were rubbish. 

[dougie76 15,356]

5 hours ago, A.T.G said:

I remember Valencia being too good for us, but Bayern went onto play Real Madrid in the next group and beat them 4-2 away and 4-1 home. Real obviously went on to win it but I think it showed how good we were. 

Valencia gave the best performance l have ever seen from an away team at Ibrox that night and Mendieta was just amazing.

[evenstevens 890]

1 hour ago, dougie76 said:

Valencia gave the best performance l have ever seen from an away team at Ibrox that night and Mendieta was just amazing.

I agree. Always cite that performance from Valencia and Mendieta as best team performance by an away team. 

[Deanzmeanzheinz 4,312]

Yeh, Valencia had that wee Argentine striker, forget his name but his nickname was "The Bug" because of the way he buzzed about ? was it Claudio Lopez??? Tore Amo a new one for the 2nd goal at Ibrox. 

Also remember Amoruso getting booed by half the stadium in a game against Monaco! Players these days get far more slack than then. 

That team we had around those 2-3 seasons was the best Rangers side i ever seen. 

[Kaydubya11 580]

Mols was going to be as good as Cruyff in my opinion

[WWTC 2,247]

10 hours ago, hammer93 said:

To this day that campaign grates with me.....we were flying under the wee general but got well beat from Valencia  (the scottish Aberdeen) as the press ignorantly called them.....We were better than Bayern in that group but lacked a fair bit against Valencia who did make the final......the following year Bayern beat Valencia in the final....we were close but just a wee bit away... but a god damn closer than the plastic paddys the now.

That Valencia team really were superb. 

[WWTC 2,247]

2 hours ago, Deanzmeanzheinz said:

Yeh, Valencia had that wee Argentine striker, forget his name but his nickname was "The Bug" because of the way he buzzed about ? was it Claudio Lopez??? Tore Amo a new one for the 2nd goal at Ibrox. 

Also remember Amoruso getting booed by half the stadium in a game against Monaco! Players these days get far more slack than then. 

That team we had around those 2-3 seasons was the best Rangers side i ever seen. 

It was Lopez. They had Gonzalez too, as well as Bjorklund at the back, and Pellegrino.

For a team of quality, see the PSG team we knocked out on penalties. Apart from the obvious, Arteta and Ronaldinho, they also had Anelka & Okocha. I'll give you a point if you can name the guy who missed the penalty to see us go through. 

[Spliffy 643]

21 minutes ago, WWTC said:

It was Lopez. They had Gonzalez too, as well as Bjorklund at the back, and Pellegrino.

For a team of quality, see the PSG team we knocked out on penalties. Apart from the obvious, Arteta and Ronaldinho, they also had Anelka & Okocha. I'll give you a point if you can name the guy who missed the penalty to see us go through. 

Pochettino? Or was it Heinze?