Editing Valencia CF (section)

===2000s: Valencia returns to the top of Spanish and European football===
Valencia started the 1999–2000 season by winning another title, beating [[FC Barcelona|Barcelona]] in the [[1999 Supercopa de España|Spanish Super Cup]]. Valencia finished third in the league, four points behind champions [[Deportivo de La Coruña|Deportivo La Coruña]], and level on points with second-placed Barça. The biggest success for the club, however, was in the Champions League; for the first time in its history, Valencia reached the [[European Champion Clubs' Cup|European Cup]] final. However, in the [[2000 UEFA Champions League final|final]] played in [[Paris]] on 24 May 2000, [[Real Madrid CF|Real Madrid]] would beat Valencia 3–0.

The final would also be Claudio López's farewell, as he had agreed to sign for Italian side [[SS Lazio|Lazio]]; also leaving was Farinós for [[Inter Milan]] and Gerard for Barcelona. The notable signings of that summer were [[John Carew]], [[Rubén Baraja]], [[Roberto Ayala]], [[Vicente Rodríguez]], and Brazilian left-back [[Fábio Aurélio]]. That season Valencia also bought [[Pablo Aimar]] in the winter transfer window. Baraja, Aimar, Vicente, and Ayala would soon become a staple of Valencia's dominance of the early 2000s in La Liga.

{{football squad on pitch|align=right
|  GK = [[Santiago Cañizares|'''Cañizares''']]
|  RB = [[Jocelyn Angloma|'''Angloma''']]
| RCB = [[Miroslav Đukić|'''Djukic''']]
| LCB = [[Mauricio Pellegrino|'''Pellegrino''']]
|  LB = [[Gerardo García León|'''Gerardo''']]
|  RM = [[Gaizka Mendieta|'''Mendieta''']]
|  CM = [[Javier Farinós|'''Farinós''']]
|  LM = [[Kily González|'''K. González''']]
| RCF = [[Miguel Ángel Angulo|'''Angulo''']]
|  SS = [[Gerard López|'''Gerard''']]
| LCF = [[Claudio López (footballer)|'''Claudio López''']]
| caption = [[2000 UEFA Champions League Final]] starting lineup
}}

Valencia started the championship on the right foot and were top of the league after ten games. After the Christmas break, however, Valencia started to pay for the top demand that such a draining competition like the Champions League requires. After passing the two mini-league phases, [[Héctor Cúper]]'s team eliminated English sides [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]] in the quarter-finals and [[Leeds United F.C|Leeds United]] in the semi-finals, reaching the [[2001 UEFA Champions League final|final]] for the second consecutive year. In the final match against [[FC Bayern Munich|Bayern Munich]], played in [[Milan]] at the [[San Siro]] on 23 May, [[Gaizka Mendieta]] gave Valencia the lead by scoring from the penalty spot right at the start of the match. Goalkeeper [[Santiago Cañizares]] then stopped a penalty from [[Mehmet Scholl]], but [[Stefan Effenberg]] drew Bayern level after the break thanks to another penalty. After extra time, the match went to a penalty shoot-out, where a [[Mauricio Pellegrino]] miss gave Bayern Champions League glory and dealt Valencia a second-straight defeat in the final. Valencia went on to slip to fifth place in La Liga and out of the Champions League positions for the 2001–02 season. Going into the final league match, Valencia only needed a draw at the [[Camp Nou]] against Barcelona to seal Champions League qualification. However, ''Los Che'' lost to Barcelona 3–2, with a last minute goal completing a [[hat-trick]] from [[Rivaldo]], resulting in Barcelona qualifying for the Champions League ahead of their side.

Valencia president D. Pedro Cortés resigned for personal reasons and left the club in July, with the satisfaction of overseeing the club win the Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup, as well as reaching two successive Champions League finals. D. Jaime Ortí replaced Cortés as president and expressed his intention of maintaining the good form that had made the club so admired on the European circuit. There were also some changes in the team and staff. [[Rafael Benítez]], after helping [[CD Tenerife|Tenerife]] to promotion, replaced Héctor Cúper after the latter became the new coach at Inter in [[Italy]]. Among the playing squad, Gaizka Mendieta, [[Didier Deschamps]], [[Luis Milla (footballer, born 1966)|Luis Milla]], and [[Zlatko Zahovič]] left, while [[Carlos Marchena]], [[Mista (footballer)|Mista]], [[Curro Torres]], [[Francisco Rufete]], [[Gonzalo de los Santos]], and [[Salva Ballesta]] all arrived.

From 1999 up until the end of the 2004 season, Valencia had one of their most successful periods in the club's history. With a total of two La Liga titles, a [[UEFA Europa League|UEFA Cup]], a Copa del Rey, and a UEFA Super Cup in those six years, no less than five first class titles and two Champions League finals had been achieved.[[File:Roberto Ayala y Javier Zanetti - 07FEB2007 - Francia - presidencia-govar.jpg|thumb|left|160px|During Valencia's domestic and European dominance of the early 2000s, Argentine [[Roberto Ayala]] had been a key component in their defense]]

That first match against fellow title rivals Real Madrid produced a significant and important victory. This was followed by a record of eleven consecutive wins, breaking their existing record set in the 1970–71 season, which was also the club's La Liga title win under [[Alfredo Di Stéfano]].

After a defeat in [[A Coruña]] against [[Deportivo de La Coruña|Deportivo]] on 9 December 2001, the team had to overcome [[RCD Espanyol|Espanyol]] at the [[Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys]] to avoid further backsliding behind the league leaders. at half-time, Valencia were 2–0 down, but a comeback in the second half saw them win 3–2.

In the second part of the season, Benítez's team suffered a temporary setback after losing 1–0 at the [[Santiago Bernabéu Stadium|Santiago Bernabéu]] to Real Madrid, but in the coming six matches they recovered from this defeat and achieved four victories and two draws.

{{football squad on pitch|align=right
|  GK = [[Santiago Cañizares|'''Cañizares''']]
|  RB = [[Jocelyn Angloma|'''Angloma''']]
| RCB = [[Roberto Ayala|'''Ayala''']]
| LCB = [[Mauricio Pellegrino|'''Pellegrino''']]
|  LB = [[Amedeo Carboni|'''Carboni''']]
| RCM = [[Gaizka Mendieta|'''Mendieta''']]
|  DM = [[Rubén Baraja|'''Baraja''']]
| LCM = [[Kily González|'''K. González''']]
| RCF = [[John Carew|'''Carew''']]
|  SS = [[Pablo Aimar|'''Aimar''']]
| LCF = [[Juan Sánchez Moreno|'''Juan Sánchez''']]
| caption = [[2001 UEFA Champions League Final]] starting lineup
}}

In one of these crucial games against Espanyol, Valencia were trailing 1–0 at half-time and down a player as well following the dismissal of Carboni. However, after a second half brace from Rubén Baraja, they would achieve a 2–1 comeback win. Furthermore, Real Madrid's defeat at the [[Anoeta Stadium|Anoeta]] to [[Real Sociedad]] left Valencia with a three-point lead at the top of the table.

Valencia's final game of the season was on 5 May 2002 at [[La Rosaleda]] against [[Málaga CF|Málaga]], a day that has gone down in Valencia's history. The team shut itself away in [[Benalmádena]], close to the scene of the game, in order to gain focus. An early goal from Roberto Ayala and another close to half-time from Fábio Aurélio secured Valencia a fifth La Liga crown, 31 years after their last title win.

The 2002–03 season was a disappointing one for Valencia, as they failed in their attempt to retain the La Liga title and ended up outside of the Champions League spots in fifth, behind [[RC Celta de Vigo|Celta Vigo]]. They were also knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Champions League by Inter Milan on away goals. The 2003–04 season saw Valencia trailing longtime leaders Real Madrid. In February, with 26 matches played, Madrid were eight points clear at the top of the table.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.resultsfromfootball.com/spain/2003-2004/primera-division/26/|title=Stage 26, Primera Division season 2003-2004|website=www.resultsfromfootball.com|access-date=29 December 2019|archive-date=29 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229052654/http://www.resultsfromfootball.com/spain/2003-2004/primera-division/26/|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, their form severely declined in the late stage of the season, and consecutive losses in their last five games of the campaign allowed Valencia to overtake them and claim the title, their second in three seasons. The club also added the UEFA Cup to this success, defeating [[Olympique de Marseille|Marseille]] 2–0 in the [[2004 UEFA Cup final|final]].

In the summer of 2004, manager Benítez decided to depart Valencia, stating he had had problems with the club president; he would soon become head coach of [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]]. He was replaced by former Valencia coach [[Claudio Ranieri]], who had recently been sacked by [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]]. Despite lifting the [[2004 UEFA Super Cup|European Super Cup]] after defeating [[2003–04 UEFA Champions League|UEFA Champions League]] winners [[FC Porto|Porto]], his second reign at the club was a disappointment; Valencia harboured realistic hopes of retaining their La Liga crown but, by February, found themselves in seventh place. Valencia had also been knocked out of the Champions League group phase, with Ranieri being sacked promptly in February. The 2004–05 season ended with Valencia outside of the UEFA Cup spots.

In the summer of 2005, [[Getafe CF|Getafe]] coach [[Quique Flores]] was appointed as the new manager of Valencia and ended the season in third place, which in turn gained Valencia a place in the Champions League after a season away from the competition. The 2006–07 season was one with many difficulties; a campaign which started with realistic hopes of challenging for the title was disrupted with a huge list of injuries to key players, as well as internal arguments between Flores and new sporting director [[Amedeo Carboni]]. Valencia ended the season in fourth place and were knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals by Chelsea 3–2 on aggregate, after they had knocked out Italian champions Inter in the second round. In the summer of 2007, the internal fight between Flores and Carboni was settled, with Carboni being replaced by Ángel Ruiz as the new sporting director of Valencia.

On 29 October 2007, the Valencia board of directors fired Flores after a string of disappointing performances, and caretaker manager [[Óscar Fernández (football manager, born 1974)|Óscar Fernández]] took over on a temporary basis until a full-time manager was found, rumoured to be either [[Marcello Lippi]] or [[José Mourinho]]. A day later, Dutch manager [[Ronald Koeman]] announced he would be leaving [[PSV Eindhoven]] to sign for Valencia. However, Koeman's appointment failed to lead to improvement; in fact, Valencia even went on to drop to the 15th position in the league, just two points above the relegation zone. Despite their poor league form, Valencia would still go on to lift the Copa del Rey on 16 April 2008, following a 3–1 victory over Getafe at the [[Vicente Calderón Stadium|Vicente Calderón]]. This was the club's seventh Copa title. Five days later, one day after a devastating 5–1 league defeat in Bilbao, Valencia fired Koeman and replaced him with [[Voro (footballer)|Voro]], who would guide Valencia as caretaker manager for the remainder of the season. He went on to win the first match since the sacking of Koeman, beating [[CA Osasuna|Osasuna]] 3–0. Voro would eventually drag Valencia from the relegation battle to a safe mid-table finish of tenth place, finally ending a disastrous league campaign for ''Los Che''.

[[File:Manolo Llorente.jpg|thumb|left|150px|35th president of Valencia [[Manuel Llorente]]]]
[[File:Sentiment Valencianista.jpg|thumb|296x296px|Tifo at [[Mestalla Stadium]]]]
Highly rated [[Unai Emery]] was announced as the new head coach of Valencia on 22 May 2008. The start of the young manager's career looked to be promising, with the club winning four out of its first five games, a surge that saw the team rise to the top position of the La Liga table. Despite looking impressive in Europe, ''Los Che'' then hit a poor run of form in the league that saw them dip as low as seventh in the standings. Amid the slump emerged reports of a massive internal debt at the club exceeding 400 million euros, as well as that the players had been unpaid for weeks. The team's problems were compounded when they were knocked out of the UEFA Cup by [[FC Dynamo Kyiv|Dynamo Kyiv]] on away goals. After a run where Valencia took only five points from ten games in La Liga, an announcement was made that the club had secured a loan that would cover the players' expenses until the end of the year. This announcement coincided with an upturn in form, and the club won six of its next eight games to surge back into the critical fourth place Champions' League spot. However, ''Los Che'' were then pushed down to sixth place in the league following defeats to top four rivals [[Atlético Madrid]] and [[Villarreal CF|Villarreal]] in two of their final three games, meaning they failed to qualify for the Champions League for a second successive season.