For Arsene Wenger, it was supposed to be continental confirmation of his side's domestic power.
Two years on from winning the Premier League and FA Cup double, Wenger was targeting UEFA Cup glory with his Arsenal side in the final against Galatasaray in Copenhagen, with the Gunners having beaten Nantes, Deportivo, Werder Bremen and Lens to get there following their dropping out of the Champions League.
Then it all went wrong.
The dogged, determined Turkish outfit subdued Wenger's attack-minded team, before winning 4-1 on penalties when both Davor Suker and Patrick Vieira hit the woodwork from the spot.
It was a defeat that hurt Wenger, but this season he could be set to avenge it.
And as the Gunners prepare for their Europa League trip to Red Star Belgrade following two wins from two group stage matches this season, what has become of that Arsenal team 17 years on?
Well, this.
David Seaman
This was a year or so before the ponytail days, and perhaps the sight of the extra bit of hair swinging behind the goalkeeper's head would have put off the Galatasaray penalty takers a bit more, as all of them slotted past the Arsenal goalkeeper.
"(Sometimes) Safe Hands" didn't end up making the move into punditry after his career ended, but he did take part in two different celebrity ice dancing shows, which probably match the credibility of the current Europa League.
Lee Dixon
The dependable right-back played the full 120 minutes in Copenhagen, helping his club keep yet another clean sheet as he did his usual understated job.
He's paid to overstate these days as one of ITV's leading pundits, but you sometimes wonder if he'd still be happier standing in a line of four blokes in a red and white shirts with their arms up in the air appealing for offside.
Tony Adams
The Gunners skipper would have been gearing up to lift his second European trophy after the 1994 Cup Winners' Cup in the Danish capital, only to have the opportunity cruelly snatched away from him during the shootout.
An Arsenal legend who has his own statue outside the Emirates Stadium, these days he seems to spend most of his time taking up doomed, short-lived managerial spells at the places that sound fairly similar like Gabala and Granada and criticising Arsene Wenger .
Martin Keown
Adams' redoubtable centre-back partner was a loyal servant to both Wenger and his captain, playing for one and acting as the perfect foil for the other.
They did their job in Copenhagen, and these days Keown does his job as a no-nonsense, says-it-like-is, doesn't-always-think-about-what-he's-saying-too-much pundit on the BBC.
Sylvinho
The Brazilian left-back was effectively the man who killed off Nigel Winterburn's Arsenal career, the rogue. His attempts at getting forward here acted as a key element of the Gunners' attack, but he was ultimately left frustrated by a strong Turkish defence.
After the emergence of Ashley Cole, his career took him to Spain with first Celta Vigo and then Barcelona, before he bizarrely popped up at Manchester City in 2009, where his relationship with Roberto Mancini led to his becoming his assistant at Inter in 2014.
Ray Parlour
The determined, combative midfielder started on the right hand side of Wenger's 4-4-2 in Copenhagen, but was unable to make any inroads against a tight Turkish defence. Despite this, he was the only Arsenal player to score in the shootout.
Another ex-Gunner who has turned to punditry, he's frequently heard on the radio these days.
Emmanuel Petit
The French midfielder with the flowing locks had won the World Cup and made a cameo appearance in The Bill in the years before this final, but he never tasted European glory with the Gunners.
In the years that followed, he lost the hair and pops up now and again on adverts for online trading brokers as well as punditry stints.
Patrick Vieira
It was Vieira's penalty miss that ended all hope for the Gunners, with the midfielder firing his effort against the crossbar with Claudio Taffarel beaten.
That was rough on the excellent Frenchman, but his game only went from strength to strength after that devastating low, and he managed to exorcise his Copenhagen demons by scoring the winning penalty in the 2005 FA Cup final against Manchester City.
Can these days be found managing at New York City FC.
Marc Overmars
Often the inspiration for this Arsenal side, quicksilver left-winger Overmars couldn't get much change out of the excellently-named Galatasaray right-back Capone for much of the evening, and Arsenal were stifled as a result.
He ended up being replaced by Davor Suker five minutes from the end of extra-time, and is the director of football at former club Ajax these days.
Thierry Henry
The man who did more than most to drag Arsenal to the final, Frenchman Henry was left crestfallen at full-time in the Danish capital, no doubt ruminating on an extra-time header which was brilliantly saved by Taffarel.
He'd get his European glory later though, winning the Champions League with Barcelona nine years later, and after a brief, emotional return to the Gunners, he's found a home at Sky Sports post retirement.
Dennis Bergkamp
The non-flying Dutchman wasn't at his best in the final, and struggled to crack the determined Gala defence before being replaced by Nwankwo Kanu in the 75th minute.
He'd go on to have six more years at Arsenal, with his 11 year career at the club earning a statue outside the Emirates Stadium.
He's been one of three assistant managers at Ajax since 2011.
Substitutes
Nwankwo Kanu
Almost won it in extra-time but was denied by a fine Taffarel double save.
After moving on to West Brom and Portsmouth - with whom he won the FA Cup in 2008 - he's a media personality and UNICEF ambassador in his native Nigeria these days.
Davor Suker
Came on specifically to take a penalty, and promptly hit the post with it.
He immediately left for West Ham before seeing out his career with 1860 Munich, and can these days be found running Croatian football as the president of his nation's FA.