Liverpool won the final with a golden goal in against Alavés for their third title in the competition.

The conclusion of the tournament by a golden goal is the only instance in any of the major European club cup competitions until the abolition of the rule in 2002.

Galatasaray could not defend their title as they automatically qualified for the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League and also reached the knockout stage.

When a place is vacated, it is redistributed within the national association by the following rules: The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round: The schedule of the competition was as follows.

The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows: The final was played on 16 May 2001 at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund, Germany.