The 2000–01 UEFA Champions League was the 46th season of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA's premier European club football tournament, and the ninth since it was rebranded from the "European Champion Clubs' Cup" or "European Cup". The competition was won by Bayern Munich for their first title since 1976, defeating Valencia 5–4 on penalties after a 1–1 draw after extra time. It was the German club's first UEFA Champions League title and their fourth European Cup overall; Valencia suffered their second consecutive final defeat, having lost to Real Madrid in the previous season. The knockout phase saw Bayern eliminate the preceding two Champions League winners, Manchester United and Real Madrid, winning all four games in the process. Valencia, meanwhile, defeated English sides Arsenal and Leeds United in the knockout phase en route to the final.
The 2001 final saw the two previous seasons' runners-up clash, Bayern Munich lost to Manchester United in the 1999 final and Valencia lost to Real Madrid in the 2000 final.
Real Madrid were the defending champions, but they were eliminated by eventual winners Bayern Munich in the semi-finals.
A total of 72 teams participated in the 2000–01 Champions League, from 48 of 51 UEFA associations. Liechtenstein (who don't have their own league) as well as Andorra and San Marino were not admitted.
Below is the qualification scheme for the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League:[1]
Countries are allocated places according to their 1999 UEFA league coefficient, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 1994–95 to 1998–99.[2]
The title holders Real Madrid finished 5th in domestic league. As a result, La Liga 4th-placed team Zaragoza were demoted to UEFA Cup and their Champions League Third qualifying round spot was vacated. The following changes to the default access list are made:
League positions of the previous season shown in parentheses (TH: Champions League title holders).
The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws were held in Geneva, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).[3]
The losing teams advanced to the first round of the 2000–01 UEFA Cup.
Brown: Group A; 
Red: Group B; Orange: Group C; 
Yellow: Group D;
Green: Group E; Blue: Group F; Purple: Group G; 
Pink: Group H.16 winners from the third qualifying round, 10 champions from countries ranked 1–10, and six second-placed teams from countries ranked 1–6 were drawn into eight groups of four teams each. The top two teams in each group advanced to the second group stage, and the third placed team in each group advanced to round 3 of the 2000–01 UEFA Cup.
Deportivo La Coruña, Hamburger SV, Heerenveen, Helsingborgs IF, Leeds United, Lyon and Shakhtar Donetsk made their debut in the group stage.
Eight winners and eight runners-up from the first group stage were drawn into four groups of four teams each, each containing two group winners and two runners-up. Teams from the same country or from the same first-round group could not be drawn together. The top two teams in each group advanced to the quarter-finals.
The final was played on 23 May 2001 at the San Siro in Milan, Italy.
Statistics exclude qualifying rounds.
Source:[5]
