Being the best club competition of the world, the Champions League provides us with some exceptional entertainment year after year. But sometimes, it outdoes itself in providing us drama. And when you talk about unbelievable comebacks, there have been plenty over the last decade.
So let us go through 5 of the Best Champions League Comebacks!
1) Barcelona 6-1 PSG (2017)
PSG had completely demolished Barcelona in the first leg of the 2016/17 Champions League Round of 16. With the score at 4-0, everyone expected the French champions to go through to the quarter-finals comfortably. However, not many knew what they were about to go through at the Nou Camp.
Barcelona fans had wanted their formidable Messi-Suarez-Neymar trio to step up. This was the match that they had to and my word they did.
The second leg started off with Luis Suarez scoring in the 3rd minute. PSG tried to take the sting out of the game which they were successful in doing for the next half hour. However, a defensive mistake in the 40th minute reduced their advantage to 2 goals as Iniesta’s effort got guided by Kurzawa into his own net.
In the second half, Barcelona found themselves within just one goal of wiping out the PSG advantage as Messi scored from the spot. However, Edinson Cavani’s strike in the 52nd minute seemed to have finished the tie in PSG’s favour.
But Neymar Jr. steps up and shines in the final minutes. A beautiful curling free-kick followed by a penalty in the 91st minute meant that Barcelona needed one goal to progress. In the next minute, Barcelona had a free kick and Marc Andre-Ter Stegen had come up. Initially cleared, the ball came back to Neymar who crossed to the far post to find the leg of Sergi Roberto. Camp Nou was in full voice and PSG had capitulated.
Of course, Barca have since suffered humiliating defeats themselves but that is for another day…or maybe later in this article.
2) Ajax 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur (2019)
Ajax had knocked out 3-time defending champions, Real Madrid and Juventus to book a place in the semi-finals.
And with a golden generation playing at their best, could they get past Tottenham Hotspur? The initial signs were positive as they won the first leg 1-0 and were destined to play the final as they scored two goals in the first half of the second-leg.
However, Tottenham Hotspur completely changed their tactics in the second half. They brought on Fernando Llorente which allowed them to play direct, and this was something that Ajax were unable to cope with.
Two quick goals from Lucas Moura meant that Tottenham needed one more goal to progress to their first Champions League final. That goal came in the 94th minute as Moura scored his third of the night to shatter the dreams of the Dutch side and send Spurs to the final.
A game which, no wonder, Lucas Moura described as the best moment of his life.
3) Roma 3-0 Barcelona (2018)
Barcelona seemed to have progressed to the Champions League semi-final as they had a 4-1 lead against AS Roma. Being the defending champions, they were destined to challenge for the title again.
However, Stadio Olimpico completely changed their fortunes.
Eden Dzeko quickly scored the first goal which made the AS Roma fans believe. Daniele De Rossi scored the penalty in the second half which brought further problems to the Spanish side. The comeback was officially complete when Kostas Manolas scored from the corner.
And who can forget the iconic “Roma have risen from their ruins” from Peter Drury that night. What a moment!
4) PSG 1-3 Manchester United (2019)
Manchester United had lost to PSG at home 2-0. In the upcoming Premier League games, they saw injuries to many of their key players which meant that they had to play the second leg with 11 first-team players missing.
Could they do the unthinkable at Parc des Princes? The chances were extremely slim. A new manager, a depleted squad, and playing against the likes of Neymar and Mbappe.
The game started off exactly how the United fans wanted it to as Romelu Lukaku scored from a PSG defensive mistake to cut the deficit to one goal.
However, the two-goal lead was restored quickly as Juan Bernat equalized within 10 minutes.
But before half-time, Gianluigi Buffon spilled the ball in the path of Lukaku, who made no mistake to ensure that United would require just one more goal to get to the quarter-finals.
Even though PSG dominated the second-half with chances falling for Di Maria and Mbappe, they were never able to find the goal to finish the tie. And then came the climax of the match. Diogo Dalot hit a shot from distance which caught the arm of Kimpembe but the referee didn’t get a clear enough view.
After the VAR check, the referee overturned his decision to give Manchester United the penalty in stoppage time. Marcus Rashford blasted it into the goal and there were emotional scenes at the away end.
This was the first time in Champions League history that a side came back from a 2 goal deficit in the home leg to win the knockout tie.
5) Liverpool vs Barcelona 4-0
In an embarrassing turn of events for Barcelona, they lost to Liverpool after beating them convincingly in the first leg 3-0.
And the agonising part for them had to be the chances they missed. The likes of Dembele and Messi had ample chances to seal the deal.
But as it transpired, a brace from Wijnaldum in the second half after Origi scored in the 7th minute levelled proceedings. And in an astonishing turn of events, Trent Alexander Arnold took a corner a little too early for the Barca defenders’ liking and Origi put Liverpool in the driver’s seat for once.
The atmosphere at Anfield at that night was truly electrifying.
Final Word
All of these games show how much Champions League means to the players as they never give up before the final whistle.
And this also reminds you never to lose interest. Because if fans lost interest in the matches above, they would not have got the joy that makes these moments so special.
Agree with our list? Or think that we missed a comeback, let us know in the comments below!
