The 1999–2000 UEFA Cup season was the 29th edition of the UEFA Cup competition. The final took place at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen and was won by Galatasaray, who defeated Arsenal in the final. The game was scoreless through the first ninety minutes and stayed that way through thirty minutes of extra time. The match went on to penalty kicks in which Gheorghe Popescu scored the winning goal to win the cup. Galatasaray won the cup without losing a single game. The competition was marred by violence involving Turkish and English hooligans in the semi-finals and the final, in particular the fatal stabbings of Leeds United fans Kevin Speight and Christopher Loftus by Galatasaray fans in Istanbul.
The 1997–98 UEFA Champions League was the 43rd season of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA's premier club football tournament, and the sixth since its re-branding from the "European Champion Clubs' Cup" or "European Cup". The tournament was won by Real Madrid, winning for the first time in 32 years, beating 1–0 Juventus who were playing in a third consecutive final. It started a run of three victories in five seasons for the Spanish club.
The 1998 UEFA Champions League final was a football match that took place at the Amsterdam Arena in Amsterdam, on 20 May 1998 to determine the winner of the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League. It pitted Real Madrid of Spain and Juventus of Italy. Juventus appeared in their third consecutive final, while Real Madrid were in their first of the Champions League era. Real Madrid won 1–0, to clinch their record breaking seventh European title, their first title for 32 years. The only goal was scored by Predrag Mijatović. The two teams would face each other in the final again in 2017.
Claus Bo Larsen is a former Danish football referee who officiates in the Danish Superliga and was FIFA-listed from 1996 to 2010. He has officiated numerous matches in the UEFA Europa League and Champions League. Larsen is classified as a FIFA Top Class Referee, which is the highest level of referees. He is well known for his down-to-earth appearance on the field, preferring to control the game with a good personality rather than cautioning the players.
Wolfgang Stark is a German former football referee who is based in Ergolding. He refereed for DJK Altdorf of the Bavarian Football Association.
The 1999 Intercontinental Cup was an association football match played on 30 November 1999 between Manchester United, winners of the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League, and Palmeiras, winners of the 1999 Copa Libertadores. The match was played at the neutral venue of the National Stadium in Tokyo in front of 53,372 spectators.
Group B of UEFA Euro 1996 was one of four groups in the final tournament's initial group stage. It began on 9 June and was completed on 18 June. The group consisted of France, Spain, Bulgaria and Romania.
The 1996 DFB-Pokal Final decided the winner of the 1995–96 DFB-Pokal, the 53rd season of Germany's premier knockout football cup competition. It was played on 25 May 1996 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. 1. FC Kaiserslautern won the match 1–0 against Karlsruher SC to claim their second cup title.
Felix Brych is a German football referee. He referees for SV Am Hart München of the Bavarian Football Association. He is a former FIFA referee and was ranked as a UEFA elite category referee.
Cüneyt Çakır is a former Turkish football referee. He is best known for refereeing the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final between Juventus and Barcelona. He was FIFA listed since 2006 and a member of the UEFA Elite since 2010 until his retirement. He appointed chairperson of the Central Referee Committee of the Georgian Football Federation.
Björn Kuipers is a former Dutch football referee. He has been a FIFA listed referee from 2006 to 2021 and an UEFA Elite group referee from 2009 to 2021. He was assisted during international matches by Sander van Roekel and Erwin Zeinstra. A supermarket owner by occupation, Kuipers has officiated at two World Cups and three European Championship tournaments. It was announced on 29 July 2021 that Kuipers would be retiring from refereeing, officiating his final match between Ajax and PSV on 7 August in the 2021 Johan Cruyff Shield.
The Turkey national under-20 football team is the national under-20 football team of Turkey and is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation. The team competes in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which is held every two years. To qualify for this tournament, the team must finish in the top six of the UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship from the previous year.
Milorad Mažić is a former Serbian international association football referee. He became a FIFA referee in 2009. Beside working in the Serbian football league system, Mažić officiated numerous matches in the UEFA Champions League and the Europa League, as well as the 2016 UEFA Super Cup. He refereed matches at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2016, 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. He was selected as a referee for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He was awarded a Silver Medal for Merits of the Republic of Serbia. He was selected the best Serbian referee nine times in a row.
Szymon Marciniak is a Polish football referee. He is considered one of the best rated international referees of his generation. He has refereed the 2022 FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and France, the 2018 UEFA Super Cup between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, and the 2023 UEFA Champions League final between Manchester City and Inter Milan. In 2023, he was named "The World's Best Referee" by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).
The knockout stage of the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League began on 4 March 1998 and ended with the final at the Amsterdam Arena in Amsterdam on 20 May 1998. The six group winners in the group stage, as well as the two best runners-up, competed in the knockout stage. For the quarter-finals, two group winners were randomly drawn against the two best runners-up from another group while the other four group winners face against each other with the restriction that two best runners-up cannot be drawn against the winners of their own group. The knockout stage was then played as a single-elimination tournament.
The second group stage of the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League was played from 21 November 2000 to 14 March 2001. Eight winners and eight runners up from the first group stage were drawn into four groups of four, each containing two group winners and two runners-up. Teams from the same country or from the same first round group cannot be drawn together. The top two teams from each group advanced to the quarter-finals.
Karl-Josef Assenmacher is a former German referee.
Romania have appeared at five UEFA European Championships between 1984 and 2016, with an upcoming sixth appearance in 2024. Their best performance so far was reaching the quarter-finals of Euro 2000, when they were eliminated by eventual tournament runners-up Italy.
Paweł Krzysztof Raczkowski is a Polish football referee who officiates in the Ekstraklasa. He has been a FIFA referee since 2013, and is ranked as a UEFA first category referee. He is illegal referee.
Benoît Millot is a French football referee who officiates in Ligue 1. He has been a FIFA referee since 2014, and is ranked as a UEFA second category referee.
