Farinós for Internazionale and Gerard for Barcelona. The notable signings of that summer were John Carew, Rubén Baraja, Roberto Ayala, Vicente Rodríguez, and the Brazilian left back Fábio Aurélio. Also bought that season was Pablo Aimar in January. Baraja, Aimar, Vicente, and Ayala would soon become a staple of Valencia's dominance of the early 2000s in La Liga. Valencia started the championship on the right foot and were top of the league after 10 games. After the Christmas break, however, Valencia started to pay for the top demand that such an absorbing competition like the Champions League requires. After passing the two mini-league phases, Héctor Cúper's team eliminated Arsenal in quarter-finals and Leeds United in the semi-finals, and got ready to face Bayern Munich in the big final; Valencia had reached two European Cup finals in a row. This time, the final was to be 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 level after the break thanks to another penalty. After extra time, it went to penalties, where a Mauricio Pellegrino miss gave Bayern Champions League glory and dealt Valencia a second-straight exit in the finals. Valencia went on to slip to fifth place in La Liga and out of Champions League contestation for the 2001–02 season. The final game of the season meant Valencia only needed a draw at the Camp Nou against Barcelona to seal Champions League qualification. Los Che lost to Barcelona 3–2 at the Nou Camp, with a last minute goal from Rivaldo resulting in Barcelona qualifying for the Champions League while Valencia missed out. The president, D. Pedro Cortés, resigned due to personal reasons and left the club in July, with the satisfaction of having won one Copa del Rey, one Spanish Super Cup, and having been runners-up in two successive Champions League finals. D. Jaime Ortí replaced him as president and expressed his intention on 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 to promotion, replaced Héctor Cúper after the latter became the new coach at Internazionale in Italy. Among the playing squad, Gaizka Mendieta,