On the eve of the final round, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax, each with only three points, hosted Juventus and Bayern Munich, which had already guaranteed their spots in the next stage. Ajax had a better goal ratio, so Maccabi needed more points than the Dutch rival in order to qualify for the UEFA Cup from third place. In the 9th minute, Roy Makaay put Ajax in a bind when he gave Bayern Munich an advantage. Twenty minutes later, at Ramat Gan Stadium, Emile Mbamba was tripped on the pitch and Baruch Dego scored his fourth goal of the competition with a penalty kick.
By the end of the half, Ajax had scored a tie, which would qualify Maccabi for the next stage. After 20 minutes of the second half, Ajax scored its second goal, qualifying themselves. A single error in the Tel Aviv defense at the 71st minute led to a tie: Gianluca Zambrotta kicked into the air from the left. Kapo firmly sent it down into the penalty area where Del Piero was stationed, easily kicking it into the net. In the 78th minute, Michael Ballack evened the score at the Amsterdam Arena, but the Yellows failed to score another goal and lost the third place due to an inferior goal difference.
