Real Madrid entered the competition in the group stage after winning La Liga.
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However, the following season, he eventually became first-choice and started five out of nine UEFA Champions League matches during the capital side's victorious campaign, but was substituted by Casillas in the final against Bayer 04 Leverkusen after suffering an injury.
In the 1999–2000 final, against fellow first-divisioner Valencia CF, he started the match as a sweeper in a 3–0 win, appearing as stopper two years later against Bayer 04 Leverkusen (2–1).
After a poor first season, he became a regular for the Merengues albeit as a substitute; in the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League final, in which he played the full 90 minutes, he was involved in the play that led to Zinedine Zidane's wonder strike against Bayer 04 Leverkusen, in an eventual 2–1 win.