Juventus and AC Milan obviously have a rich history. Immediately in his first season, trainer / coach Eriksson fought for the scudetto until the end, but it went to Juventus. In January 1997, however, things went wrong with a late defeat against FC Barcelona (0-1), Toshack's announcement that he would retire after the season, several loss of points in the league and elimination in the Copa del Rey against Espanyol. The 1994/95 season would bring the first prize ever for a Galician club: on June 27, 1995, Deportivo won the Copa del Rey against Valencia, after the match was abandoned in the second half on June 24, 1995 due to heavy rain. In March 1995, after a 0-1 home defeat against Atlético de Madrid, Deportivo had fallen further and was fourth, seven points behind Real Madrid. The Basque coach Javier Irureta came over from fellow countryman Celta de Vigo and would stay on for seven seasons.
After that, the team started to turn and won seven times in a row, including against FC Barcelona (2-1), Atlético de Madrid (1-3) and fellow countryman Celta de Vigo (1-0). After a dazzling show on November 21, 1999 against Sevilla (5-2), Deportivo took the first position in the ranking. In the Copa del Rey there was elimination against Segunda División club Alavés. Elimination in the Copa del Rey against Sporting de Gijón was narrowly avoided. In the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, however, things went wrong against Atlético de Madrid and qualification for the Champions League was lost on the last matchdays. Partly thanks to his 13 goals (between January 17 and April 25, 1999), Celta de Vigo and Mallorca were eliminated in the Copa del Rey and only lost once in the next eleven games. The Mallorca and Celta de Vigo clubs had reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1999/00.
The team would never get higher than eleventh place in the 1997/1998 season and was already eliminated by Auxerre in the first round of the UEFA Cup. The team built on last season's third spot and had a very successful preparation, but in the closing hours of the transfer window, Rivaldo was bought out for $27 million by FC Barcelona under a clause in his contract. In July 2021, it was announced that De Leeuw would not return as a presenter after a difference of opinion with RTL; De Leeuw thought that the program deserved a more prominent place on RTL 4 instead of RTL 5, RTL disagreed and replaced him as presenter with Eddy Zoëy. Deportivo started very strong and was still unbeaten in December 1996 after 17 games. Goalkeeper Liaño was again Spain's least passed goalkeeper that season and Deportivo did not concede any goals in 27 of 38 games. De Gea also became first-choice goalkeeper here and made more than 130 league appearances in his first four years at the club. The flag must not be flown between sunset and sunrise, except when it belongs to state bodies in Spain and abroad (such as embassies), but then it must be well lit.
That was only a few less than the 63 points in 1997/98 and the 68 points in 1998/1999. With 69 points, Deportivo is the champion with the fewest points since three points were awarded for a victory in 1995. Second on that list is the FC Barcelona championship in 1997/1998 with 74 points. In the knockout phase, Liverpool drew German champions Bayern Munich. Alavés would lose the UEFA Cup Final 5–4 to Liverpool after extra time in the 2000/01 season. He held this position under the bar for eleven seasons, until he left in 1994. During his spell at Internazionale, he won one league title, one Italian Super Cup and two UEFA Cups. A win by Deportivo would narrow the gap to two points, after which Real Madrid would have to play against the highly ranked Betis Sevilla, among others. But in the nine games that followed, Deportivo put in a strong series with six victories (including at home against FC Barcelona and away at Celta and Valencia) and three draws.