The Champions League trophy

Five of the BEST EVER comebacks in European competitions

The Champions League trophy

Real Madrid stunned the footballing world last night when they came back from 2-0 down to score five goals at Anfield and all but secure their place in the Champions League quarter-finals.

It will go down as one of the most memorable comebacks in European football, joining a long list of shocking, incredible, and almost impossible results to have taken place in European competitions. That is, of course, unless Liverpool can do something spectacular of their own in the second leg.

Here are five more of the best comebacks to have happened in European competitions…

Liverpool 3 Milan 3

Perhaps the most famous of all the comebacks to have happened in European competitions, and one Liverpool were on the right end of.

3-0 down in the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul, Liverpool looked to have no hope of winning the trophy at half-time as Hernan Crespo, Andriy Shevchenko, Kaka and co. ran riot.

But a header from Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard early in the second half gave his side a glimmer of hope before Vladimir Smicer beat Dida with a long-range strike which had fans of the Merseyside club starting to believe a comeback was really possible.

And the scores were levelled just after the hour mark when Gerrard was fouled in the penalty area by Gennaro Gattuso, with Xabi Alonso tucking in the rebound after seeing his spot-kick saved much to the joy and relief of the travelling Reds fans.

The game would end up going to penalties, where some spectacular heroics, and dancing, from goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek would see Liverpool crowned winners of the competition.

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Barcelona 6 PSG 1

Down 4-0 from the first leg of the round of 16, Barcelona looked to have no hope of progressing into the quarter finals.

However, after racing into a 3-0 lead in the return leg those hopes quickly grew, before being all but squashed once again when Edinson Cavani scored to make it 3-1 on the night to seemingly put PSG out of sight in the tie.

It looked that way until one of the most amazing few minutes of a football game that have ever been played.

Neymar kicked things off with an 88th minute strike as Barcelona desperately chased the goals they needed, and then converted a spot-kick three minutes later to leave the Catalan club within reaching distance of pulling off the near impossible.

And with the whistle about to blow, Sergi Roberto prodded home to send PSG out of the competition and Barcelona through in what was truly one of the most incredible games of football in the history of the Champions League.

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Liverpool 4 Barcelona 0

Liverpool absolutely love a comeback in a European competition, which makes their heavy defeat to Real Madrid all the more surprising.

On this occasion, 3-0 down from the semi-final first leg at the Camp Nou, Liverpool somehow managed to find a way into the final of the competition by beating Barcelona 4-0 at Anfield.

Things got off to the perfect start when Divock Origi tapped in on seven minutes to get Anfield roaring, but it took until the second half for the Reds to build on their lead as Georgino Wijnaldum fired in two quick goals to level the score on aggregate.

Then came the famous line from commentator Steve Hunter, as Trent Alexander-Arnold quickly took a corner and caught Barcelona napping, allowing Origi to score his second of the night by sweeping home from close range and sending Barca out.

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Juventus 2 Manchester United 3

People will rightly remember Man Utd’s comeback in the final of the 1999 Champions League as one of the most memorable in history, as they fought back to beat Bayern Munich 2-1 with two late goals, but that would not have been possible without arguably the more impressive comeback against Juventus in the semi-final.

Down 2-0 and 3-1 on aggregate in Turin, Roy Keane sparked an incredible comeback with a majestic performance which included scoring his side’s first goal.

Goals from Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole would then follow, sending United through to the final at the expense of the Italian giants.

The rest is history…

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Chelsea 4 Napoli 1

There was little prospect of Chelsea getting through their round of 16 tie with Napoli in the 2012 Champions League, let alone winning the competition that year.

Down 3-1 on aggregate, the Blues returned to Stamford Bridge with Roberto Di Matteo in charge after Andre Villas-Boas was sacked by the club, who were in complete disarray.

But Di Matteo would help his side to pull off a spectacular comeback as Branislav Ivanovic scored in extra time of the second leg to send Chelsea through.

Again, the rest is history. Chelsea would end up winning the competition under Di Matteo that year, unexpectedly beating Bayern Munich in their own back yard in the final.

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