 This would be his final season as an indisputable starter, however, and the following seasons would see him play with less regularity.During the 1999–2000 season, Parma finished in fourth place yet again, and narrowly missed out on qualifying for the UEFA Champions League after losing out to Inter in the playoff match.Parma managed their third consecutive fourth-place finish in the league during the 2000–01 season, also reaching another Coppa Italia final, only to be defeated by Fiorentina.