Leeds United's 00/01 European Adventure Part 4: Humbling Deportivo, and Semi-Final Heartache.

Leeds were in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and they'd done it in style: 3 wins in the first 4 games had seen them book their place in the last 8 with 2 games to spare. It was another 2 fingers up to the critics.

This was the business end of the tournament, though, and their fellow quarter-finalists reflected this. Former champions Real Madrid, Manchester United and Bayern Munich were joined by Deportivo La Coruna (the Spanish champions), Valencia, Arsenal, Galatasaray, and Leeds themselves. The Spanish clubs and Bayern were seeded for the last 8 draws, and the others were left unseeded. This narrowed Leeds' potential opponents to 4; none of which were particularly appealing, but there are no easy games at that stage of the Champions League. However, this was not a sentiment held by Deportivo.......

Blind Arrogance

The Spanish champions were drawn as Leeds' opponents in the quarter-finals, and based upon their reaction, you'd have thought they'd just been handed a bye to the semi's, with midfielder Victor saying:

"I suppose you have to give them some credit for putting out Barcelona and qualifying alongside Madrid, but we were very pleased when we heard Leeds would be our next opponents.  They are the weakest team in the competition and when you compare them to the other sides we've got the easiest draw."

It was a wildly misguided comment. Anyone who'd even been paying the most minuscule amount of attention could have told the Deportivo players that Leeds had thrived after being written off; embarrassing the naysayers had become a familiar theme of their European campaign.

Leeds, for their part, were far more measured in their reaction to the draw. They knew it wouldn't be an easy game, but the prevalent feeling seemed to be one of quiet confidence. And why not? Their self-belief had been a big driver in their success.

Now, some people may be reading this thinking: 'Who the fuck are Deportivo La Coruna?'. Well, it's a fair question to ask about a team currently languishing in the Spanish 2nd division, but it wasn't always like this. Back at the turn of the millennium, players like Djalminha, Roy Makaay, and Valeron gave them a seriously talented squad. Seemingly, only their arrogance could match that talent.

Deportivo humbled at Elland Road

On the 4th of April, Deportivo arrived at Elland Road for the first leg of their quarter final tie. Elland Road under the lights is always special; even more so when there's a point to prove. With Victor's words still ringing in their ears (O'Leary needn't have bothered with a team-talk, I imagine), Leeds took to the pitch ready to humble their cocky Spanish counterparts. And humble them they did.

Leeds started at a frantic pace, with Viduka and Smith using their physicality and aggression to unsettle the Deportivo defenders. The approach worked, and it led to Leeds' first goal. Smith made a nuisance of himself on the edge of the Deportivo box by refusing to give up the ball, which forced Cesar to drag him down. From the resulting free-kick, Ian Harte smashed the ball home; it may have been straight down the middle, but the sheer ferocity of the strike saw it fly above Molina's outstretched arm and into the Deportivo goal. Leeds' bold approach to the game had been validated.

They may have been a goal up, but Leeds weren't about to rest on their laurels; they spent the rest of the first half making the Deportivo players as uncomfortable as possible by hassling and harrying them at every turn. Olivier Dacourt was particularly impressive for Leeds in this regard, as he snapped into tackles and went about stamping his authority on the game. Going forward, it was the often absent Harry Kewell who provided the attacking verve.

The Deportivo players must've been delighted to hear the half-time whistle; they'd been thoroughly outplayed and outfought. Unfortunately for them, Leeds weren't finished: a mere 5 minutes after the restart, Leeds had made it 2-0. The goal itself epitomised their approach to the game: first, excellent Leeds pressure led to a Smith shot being tipped around the post. Then, from Dacourt's short corner that followed, Kewell sent over a cross, Smith beat his marker to the ball, and headed it into the bottom corner.

5 minutes later, Roy Makaay briefly threatened for the Spaniards, but his effort was easily saved by Martyn. If the Deportivo fans thought this was their team finally waking up, they were sorely mistaken. If anything it had the opposite effect; Leeds ratcheted up the intensity, and found yet another gear. And it wasn't long before they had their 3rd goal. This time a lunging Rio Ferdinand header (it wasn't quite the diving header I thought I remembered) from Harry Kewell's corner wrapped up an incredible performance. Leeds were rampant, Elland Road was raucous, and Deportivo had been well and truly humbled as '3-0 to the weakest link' rang out around them.

Leeds hadn't just bloodied Deportivo's collective nose; they'd knocked them down and nearly out. All the while, Deportivo had barely laid a glove on Leeds. Luckily for Deportivo, this wasn't a boxing bout, and they'd have 2 weeks to recover between rounds. And based on the beating they had meted out against them, they'd needed every minute of that 2 weeks.

A battered Leeds survive the Riazor

It looked like Deportivo had learnt their lessons from their Elland Road mauling, as in the return leg, they were a different beast: long gone was the weak and timid display that defined their previous performance. Now it was Deportivo's turn to put it on Leeds. The atmosphere at Elland Road had given Leeds an undoubted advantage, Deportivo needed the same from their own fans and stadium; the cacophony of noise, along with the white ticker-tape, The Riazor was reminiscent of the great South American stadiums, and that cauldron-like environment provided the Spaniards a much needed springboard.

Of course, Leeds knew the second-leg would be far a tougher task, but the relentlessness of Deportivo's start still left them reeling. It only took 9 minutes for Deportivo to reduce the first-leg deficit, as Harry Kewell fouled Victor in the box, and Djalminha scored from the resulting penalty. Already it was backs against the wall for Leeds, as Deportivo kept attacking with ferocity. As chances kept mounting in Deportivo's favour, Leeds defended admirably, making it to half-time only a goal down. Deportivo were off the canvas and throwing haymakers.

The second half-started much the same as the first: Deportivo kept up the bombardment, hitting the frame of Leeds' goal twice, but they just couldn't seem to make any further breakthrough. Then, just as Leeds felt like the worst had passed, Deportivo struck. This time Diego Tristan found himself free of his marker, and scored from close range. It was a rare lapse in concentration from the Leeds defence, and set up a nerve-shredding ending. Somehow, though, a battered Leeds survived, and left the Riazor with a 3-2 aggregate victory. Leeds were in the Semi-finals, and Deportivo - despite having been pretty much guaranteed a bye into the next round after drawing the 'weakest team' - were out; left to lick their wounds with their big mouths. Funnily enough, I don't remember Victor piping up post-match. Strange.

It was the first time since their infamous robbery at the hands of Bayern Munich (and the referee) in the 1975 European Cup final, that Leeds had made it so far in Europe's main competition. This time, before matching Jimmy Arfield's side's achievement, the 2001 iteration of Leeds had another Spanish obstacle to overcome: Valencia.

Semi-Final hangs in the balance after Elland Road draw

Valencia, in much the same way as Lazio and Deportivo, don't have the same allure in 2025 as they did back in 2001. The current Valencia are a bit of a laughing stock in Spain; lurching from one crisis to another, seemingly on the verge of existential disaster every season. This was not the case in 2001: Valencia were arguably the 3rd force in Spanish football, and with players like Medieta, Aimar, Ayala, and Canziares at their disposal, it wasn't hard to see why.

The first-leg was again played at Elland Road in front of a predictably electric home crowd. Leeds were hoping to give themselves a solid platform to take to the Mestalla a week later, but it didn’t quite pan out that way. A 0-0 draw wasn't a terrible result, but it wasn't quite the springboard they'd hoped for.

Valencia had the best of the first half, with a combination of a couple of incredible saves from Nigel Martyn, and the woodwork, keeping them at bay. Not to be out done at home, Leeds fired back in the 2nd half, hitting the frame of Valencia's goal themselves, and forcing Canizares into some fine stops of his own. My overriding memory of this game is the save Canizares made from Dom Matteo: he somehow managed to reach behind himself to claw the ball back from the line, stopping what seemed to be a certain goal. An unbelievable save, that immediately cemented Canizares as the best goalkeeper in the world in my young mind. Obviously, Canizares was a world-class 'keeper, but I'm sure I definitely inflated his abilities in my head; in fact, even to this day, I still consider him one the great goalkeepers of that era. All because of that one save.

A draw seemed about a fair result, but with Valencia at home in the second-leg, the needle certainly seemed to move in their favour. Leeds were capable of special performances on the road in Europe - Lazio and Anderlecht could attest to that- and another one would be required if they were to progress any further.

A step too far

Unfortunately, the game proved one step too far for O’Leary’s young side: With only 15 minutes  on the clock, Valencia's Sanchez scored a blatant handball as he dived to meet Mendieta's cross. As painful as it was to concede in that manner, it was the opening moments of the 2nd half that were ultimately Leeds' undoing. Two quality strikes, 2 and 7 minutes respectively, after the restart saw Valencia take an insurmountable 3-0 lead. Leeds had fought bravely in the tie until that point, but there was no way back. A reckless red card from Alan Smith was the final nail in Leeds' coffin, but the truth is, the game was long gone by that point.

It was a disappointing exit, but any exit at that stage is going to hurt. A lot of the narrative around Leeds' elimination seemed to be that they'd finally run out of luck in the competition. But that's a massive disservice to the players, and frankly, way off the mark. The only luck Leeds benefited from was how some teams massively underrated them; they had made it to the semi-finals on the strength of their performances and thoroughly deserved to be there.

Domestically, Leeds had completely turned their season on its head. No longer were they the inconsistent mess of a team, dogged by off-field issues. Since the start of 2001, Leeds only lost 2 league games, the second of those coming against Arsenal, which interrupted a 6 game winning streak. It was a result that made sure Leeds would miss out on Champions League qualification by a solitary point, the ramifications of which would turn out to be catastrophic. Like so many of Leeds' previous seasons, it was one that promised so much, but ultimately, delivered nothing.

Great memories after tough times

Of course, the ten year old me was oblivious to the financial meltdown that was around the corner; I just assumed the good times would keep coming. My thoughts on growing up as a Leeds fan, tend to vary depending on how well the club is doing at that given time. As I've reached adulthood, I've generally made my peace with the fact that supporting Leeds comes with a lot of ups and downs, and look back on those formative childhood memories of watching Leeds in my Grandparents living room, with a lot of fondness. The days of League One and pre-Bielsa Championship were woefully shit at times, so utterly shit, in fact, it'd leave me questioning the point of it all. But, really, I wouldn't have had it any other way.