Valencia finally secure major honours after Champions League disappointment

Valencia put two straight years of European heartbreak behind them by clinching their first Liga title in 31 years at the end of the 2001-02 season.

After losing the 2000 and 2001 Champions League finals to Real Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively, Los Che stifled their way to the title under the pragmatism of new manager Rafa Benitez. Despite only scoring 51 goals and drawing 12 of their 38 games, they finished seven points clear of second-place Deportivo thanks to a league-best defence that conceded only 27 times.

CHANGES

Despite making only one transfer, Real Madrid dominated the summer back pages again after bringing in Zinedine Zidane from Juventus for a world-record fee of €77.5m. However, La Liga also lost a midfield specimen with Gaizka Mendieta’s €47.7m move from Valencia to Lazio. Meanwhile, Barcelona beefed up their attacking options around Rivaldo and Patrick Kluivert by signing 19-year-old Argentine phenom Javier Saviola from River Plate.

Benitez took the hot seat at Valencia after guiding Tenerife to promotion in 2000-01, while Barcelona’s dramatic final-day qualification for the Champions League under Carles Rexach in the previous season saw the caretaker tag removed from his title.

The relegated trio of Real Oviedo, Racing Santander and Numancia were replaced in the top flight by Real Betis, Sevilla and Tenerife.

SUMMARY

Valencia opened the season with a 1-0 win against Real Madrid at the Mestalla, but it wasn’t the catalyst that Benitez would have hoped for. His side drew nine of their next 15 matches as they initially struggled to adapt to a 4-2-3-1 formation that in hindsight, was ahead of its time.

Benitez was painted as out of his depth, particularly after a loss to Deportivo at Estadio Riazor in December. But one week later, he orchestrated a dramatic comeback from two goals down to beat Espanyol 3-2 that marked a turning point in Los Che’s season.

Late goals became their specialty, with Espanyol again on the wrong side of a…

Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/season-reviews/valencia-finally-secure-major-honours-after-champions-league-disappointment-la-liga-in-2001-02/84

Author : [email protected] (Dan Edwards)

Publish date : 2024-07-23 11:00:00

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