Angulo: “I enjoyed the Champions League a lot. VCF have to be ambitious”

Hours away from Valencia CF’s return to Champions League action, VCF Media spoke to a man who participated in the club’s very first campaign in the competition. Miguel Ángel Angulo was part of the side that shone in the European tournament 20 years ago, and he remembered that time in an exclusive interview.

 “I remember our debut against Glasgow Rangers with a lot of nostalgia, because it was our first game; there were a lot of players who still hadn't played in that competition. There were a lot of young players who were keen to find out what the Champions League was all about,” recalled Angulo of the 1999/2000 season.

“We went out there with the idea of seeing how far we could go in the competition.”

The answer was “to the final.” Along the way, Valencia CF had to get past the likes of Bayern Munich, Manchester United and, in the semi-finals, FC Barcelona. In that fixture, two Angulo goals in a 4-1 win at Mestalla helped the team through.

“I was a young kid with a lot of excitement and ambition. I think that it was a very good year for me, because I played in many positions and participated a lot for the team,” he remembered. “I enjoyed the Champions League a lot, because we played against big clubs and were able to make things difficult for teams singled out as candidates to win the competition, such as Bayern Munich and Manchester United. We played at a very high level.”

Valencia CF start their 12th Champions League campaign this weekend, whilst Angulo has another European competition on his mind: The UEFA Youth League, as coach of the Juvenil A side. The team play Chelsea Under-19s on Tuesday.