14 years ago today, Roy Hodgson’s Fulham pulled off a sensational comeback against Italian giants Juventus, winning 4-1 (5-4 on aggregate) at Craven Cottage in the Europa League round of 16.
Hodgson’s side would go on to make it all the way to the final, narrowly losing in extra-time to Atletico Madrid in Hamburg.
The second leg against Juventus was the stand-out moment from their European run and will live long in the memory of supporters, who have since seen their team relegated from the Premier League and fight relegation in the Championship before bouncing back to the top flight under Marco Silva.
Here are some more examples of when some of English football’s more modest sized clubs shocked the giants of European football…
Fulham 4 Juventus 1
As previously mentioned, Fulham knocked out Juventus on a famous night at Craven Cottage in 2010, overturning a 3-1 first-leg deficit to reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League. Clint Dempsey’s brilliant chip sealed a famous comeback for the Cottagers after a double from Zoltan Gera and Bobby Zamora strike to knock out a Juve side which featured the likes of David Trezeguet and Fabio Cannavaro. Fulham would go on to beat Wolfsburg and Hamburg to set up a final against Atletico Madrid.
Middlesbrough beating Roma on aggregate
Embed from Getty ImagesMiddlesbrough defied the odds and made it all the way to the UEFA Cup final in 2006, beating Italian giants Roma in the round of 16 along the way. A Yakubu penalty had put Boro in control of the tie with a 1-0 first-leg win and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s 32nd minute goal at the Stadio Olimpico saw them double their aggregate lead. Amantino Mancini’s double set up a nervous ending for Steve McClaren’s side but they hung on to cause a huge upset against the Italian giants to squeeze through on away goals.
Memorable comeback wins over FC Basel and Steaua Bucharest would follow in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively before their humbling 4-0 defeat to Sevilla in the final, but their shock win over a Roma side which also featured legendary midfielder Daniele De Rossi and Cristian Chivu certainly ranks among the biggest giant killings in European football in recent times. Currently, Boro are sat tenth in the Championship.
Bolton 1 Atletico Madrid 0
Embed from Getty ImagesBolton went unbeaten in their UEFA Cup group stage in 2008, which included a 2-2 draw away at Bayern Munich and met an Atletico Madrid side in the round of 32 which featured Diego Forlan, Jose Reyes, Maxi Rodriguez and a young Sergio Aguero, who came off the bench and was sent off after exchanging words with the linesman. El Hadji Diouf scored the winning goal and Bolton held on in the second leg to reach the last 16 before Gary Megson’s side were drawn to Sporting Lisbon and lost 2-1 over two legs. A long way away from their current position in England’s third tier of football.
Portsmouth 2 AC Milan 2
Embed from Getty ImagesPortsmouth made it into the UEFA Cup having won the FA Cup the season before and despite going out in the group stage, had a memorable night at Fratton Park when they hosted an AC Milan side filled with star names including Dida, Andriy Shevchenko, Kaka and Ronaldinho back in 2008. Pompey thought they had secured a famous victory against Carlo Ancelotti’s side after second-half goals from Younes Kaboul and Nwankwo Kanu but Ronaldinho and Filippo Inzaghi struck late to spare Milan’s blushes.
