9 biggest wins in UEFA Champions League history

The first match day of the third round of UEFA Champions League fixtures was a goal fest. There were eight matches played on the day and a total of 40 goals were scored which is a record for the most number of goals in match day with eight games.The biggest win was for Ukranian Shakhtar Donetsk who defeated Belarusian champions BATE Borisov by seven goals to nil in an away game. The other big wins were for Bayern Munich who defeated Roma in their own backyard with a score-line of 7-1 and Chelsea who put six past a hapless Slovenian side Maribor. But these victories did not break the biggest margin of victory in a Champions League game.Here is a look at the Top 7 biggest wins for teams in the Champions League era.NB: Finnish side HJK Helsinki had beaten Welsh side Bangor City 10-0 in the second qualifying round in 2011-12, but does not feature in the list as we have chosen games from group stages and onwards.

#9 Barcelona 7-0 Celtic (2016-17)

The latest biggest win margin in the Champions League was set by La Liga runners-up, Barcelona, as they demolished Scottish Champions Celtic with a 7-0 victory at the Camp Nou. The fixture was played on matchday 1, with Celtic coming off a 5-1 win in the Glasglow Derby against Rangers.

Barcelona's talisman Lionel Messi grabbed a hat-trick and an assist with Luis Suarez, Neymar and Andres Iniesta also stepping up with goals. The Argentina forward took less than three minutes to open the scoring and after Moussa Dembele missed a penalty at the other end, he added a second before half-time.

Neymar set up the goals for his partners in crime as he assisted four and scored one. It was never going to be easy for Rodgers whose Celtic side cost too many errors and as a result, they were left red-faced at the end of the game.

#8 Juventus 7-0 Olympiakos (2003-04)

It was the final day of group stage fixtures and the Italian side had already progressed to the next round as group toppers while Olympiakos were playing for a win to help them finish third and qualify for the UEFA Cup (Now renamed as The UEFA Europa League).

The Italian side opened the scoring through David Trezeguet who now plays for ISL side Pune City. The Frenchman would score another in the game and five different scorers, namely Fabrizio Miccoli, Enzo Maresca, Marco Di Vaio, Alessandro Del Piero and Marcelo Zalayeta made it seven for Juventus.

The Italians were knocked out in the next round by Spanish side Deportivo La Coruna while Olympiakos finished bottom of the table in the group stages with four points.

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#7 Arsenal 7-0 Slavia Prague (2007-08)

The Gunners were on song in their opening two group stage games and their third game was against Czech side Slavia Prague at the Emirates.

Arsenal opened their tally with an early strike from Cesc Fabregas and their lead was doubled after an own goal from Prague player Hubacek. The Gunners would make in three before half-time courtesy of a goal from Theo Walcott. In the second half Alexander Hleb added the fourth of the night before Walcott and Fabregas who were just teenagers then, completed their brace to make it a miserable night for the visitors. The humiliation was complete when another teenager Nicklas Bendtner scored in the dying minutes to make it seven goals to nil for the home side.

Arsenal couldn’t keep up their momentum in the next two games and eventually finished second in the group behind Sevilla. They defeated AC Milan in the first knock out tie but were knocked out in the quarter final by league rivals Liverpool.

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#6 Valencia 7-0 Genk (2011-12)

Roberto Soldado and Pablo Hernandez celebrate a goal

The game was during the 5th round of group stage matches in the 2011-12 edition of the tournament. Valencia and Genk were placed in a tough group consisting of Chelsea and Bayer Leverkusen.

Genk were on 2 points at this stage and were already out of contention for qualifying, while Valencia were on 5 points needing a win to have a better chance of qualifying for the next round ahead of Leverkusen who were on 6 points or Chelsea who were on 8 points at this stage.

The Spanish side took the lead in the 10th minute through Brazilian Jonas before a first half hat-trick by current Tottenham Hotspur striker Roberto Soldado put the game out of Genk’s reach. Valencia would then go on to score three more goals in the second half through Pablo Hernandez, Aritz Aduriz and Tino Costa.

The win wasn’t enough to power Valencia through to the next round as they lost their final game against Chelsea and finished with 8 points while Leverkusen and Chelsea finished above them with 10 and 11 points respectively.

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#5 Bayern Munich 7-0 FC Basel (2011-12)

Bayern Munich players celebrate Mario Gomez’s goal

The Bavarians were playing Swiss Champions Basel in the Round of 16 tie that season and the Swiss side had taken a 1-0 lead on aggregate after the first leg in Basel.

Bayern cancelled out Basel’s lead after just 10 minutes into the game through an Arjen Robben goal and took the lead on aggregate minutes before half-time through Muller. Mario Gomez then scored again before half-time to go 3-0 up on the night. Gomez would go on to score three more goals in the second half before Arjen Robben finished with his second and Bayern’s 7th in the 81st minute.

The German side would go on to beat Marseille and Real Madrid in the next two rounds but eventually lost to Chelsea in the final on penalties at their home stadium – The Allianz Arena.

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#4 Zilina 0-7 Marseille (2010-11)

Lucho Gonzalez scores for Marseille against Zilina

Marseille who are the only French side to win the Champions League set the record for the biggest away win in the tournament when the defeated Slovakian club MSK Zilina 7-0.

The French side had just 3 points from a single victory after the first three games in the group stage and they needed another win to boost their chances of qualifying for the knockout stages.

Marseille opened their account through Andre Pierre Gignac in the 12th minute and the Frenchman doubled the lead after nine more minutes. Further goals from former Manchester United and Real Madrid man Gabriel Heinze and current Chelsea man Loic Remy meant that the score-line read 4-0 at half-time. Lucho Gonzalez added the fifth minutes into the second half before Gignac completed his hat-trick. Gonzalez then wrapped up the game with another goal in the 63rd minute.

Marseille eventually qualified for the knockout stages, but were knocked out immediately by Manchester United whereas Zilina failed to secure a single point in the group and were knocked out.

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#3 BATE Borisov 0-7 Shakhtar Donetsk (2014-15)

Skhakhtar Donetsk players celebrate Adriano’s goal

Shakhtar’s performance against BATE Borisov broke many team and individual records even though they couldn’t break the record for the biggest win in the tournament.

The Ukranian side took the lead in the 11th minute through an Alex Teixeira strike and then doubled the strike from the spot through Luiz Adriano in the 28th minute. Douglas Costa then scored Shakhtar’s third after which Adriano scored three more goals before the break.

BATE defended better in the second half but still conceded a penalty in the 82nd minute which Luiz Adriano once again stood up to take and converted. Interestingly for the Ukrainian side all their goals were scored by Brazilian players.

Shakhtar’s half-time score is the biggest halftime lead for any team in a Champions League game and their final score puts them in joint first position for the biggest away win in a Champions League game.

Individually Luiz Adriano broke four records on the night.

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#2 Real Madrid 8-0 Malmo (2015-16)

The Los Blancos equalled the biggest win in the UEFA Champions League with an 8-0 thrashing of Swedish side Malmo at the Santiago Bernabeu. The game was held on matchday six during the Champions League when Cristiano Ronaldo scoring 4 goals and Karim Benzema bagging a hattrick.

The Real Madrid talisman scored his fourth champions league hat-trick only two behind Barcelona rival Lionel Messi. It was also a nostalgia moment for defender Alvaro Arbeloa who was also part of the 8-0 win over Besiktas by Liverpool, which was then managed by Rafa Benitez, who was also the Real Madrid manager when they matched Liverpool's record.

Madrid's previous biggest victory in the Champions League was the 6-0 success against Genk in the 2002/03 first group stage. Five of their goals against Malmö came in the second half, the ninth time a club has achieved this and the second time for Madrid after their 6-1 triumph at Galatasaray in September 2013.

#1 Liverpool 8-0 Besiktas (2007-08)

Peter Crouch scores Liverpool’s 8th goal of the night

This was the fourth round of group stage fixtures that season and Liverpool were without a win in three games and had lost to the Turkish side in their previous game. The reds who were the Champions League finalists in the previous season desperately needed a win to keep their hopes of qualifying for the next round alive.

Liverpool would open the scoring in the 19th minute through Peter Crouch, but nobody expected that seven more goals were to follow. Yossi Benayoun scored in the 36th minute and the score remained the unaltered till half-time.

Benayoun completed his hat-trick in the 56th minute and then Gerrard scored Liverpool’s fifth following which Ryan Babel scored a brace and Peter Crouch scored his second and Liverpool’s eight to end proceedings.

Liverpool would go on to win their next games 4-1 and 0-4 against Porto and Marseille respectively and qualify for the knockout stages. The Reds were eventually knocked out in the semi-final while Besiktas finished last in the group which ensured that they never qualified for the knockout stage of the tournament.