The summer arrivals of Dida, Comandini, Roque Júnior and Redondo stand out in terms of transfers. AC Milan's 2000/01 Serie A campaign, postponed to the end of September due to the Olympic Games, was a mixed bag of results. In January, the arrival of Kakhaber Kaladze strengthened the back line. After eliminating Torino and Atalanta in the previous rounds, Rossonero progress in the Coppa Italia was halted by Fiorentina, the eventual winners of the tournament. AC Milan struggled to find consistency in the league, with Zaccheroni losing his job after a winless run of European results. The Tassotti-Maldini duo replaced Zac on the bench, and they debuted with a decisive victory over Bari in mid-March. Towards the end of the season, the Rossoneri etched a historic date into the memory of all the fans with a stratospheric success in the Derby: 11 May 2001, the Derby ended 6-0 to AC Milan. Comandini's double opened the scoring at the start of the half, Giunti, Shevchenko with two and Serginho extended the lead in the second half. The Rossoneri's final games did not end well, resulting in a sixth-place finish and qualification for the UEFA Cup the following season.
The Rossoneri's season got into full swing at the beginning of August. Finishing third in the league the year before meant Zaccheroni's AC Milan had to play in the preliminary round of the Champions League against Dynamo Zagreb, but they won, 3-1 at San Siro and 3-0 on Croatian soil. Having overcome the first hurdle, the Rossoneri's European journey continued at full steam with victory in Group H, amongst which the 2-0 win at Camp Nou over Barcelona shone the brightest. A draw and a win - against Galatasaray and Deportivo La Coruña respectively - got the Rossoneri off to a good start in the second group stage of the Champions League, but a couple of 1-1 against PSG and a loss in Turkey to Galatasaray resulted in the team's elimination.
