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#3 Everyone loves a good upset
This week saw another huge upset in the Champions League as Manchester United came from a 2-0 first leg deficit to defeat Paris Saint-Germain 1-3 at the Parc des Princes and dump them out of the tournament. And strangely enough, despite United not traditionally being loved by neutrals, everyone but PSG’s own fans seemed to be supporting them. Why? Because everyone loves an upset.
While United’s comeback victory has gained most of the press coverage this week, Ajax’s defeat of Real Madrid was actually a bigger upset when you consider the difference – on paper at least – in the caliber of players between the two sides. Throw in the fact that Ajax also overcame a first-leg deficit to win away in Madrid and the result becomes even more staggering.
The Champions League has seen some major results in recent years – Roma’s defeat of Barcelona last season comes to mind, as does Barca’s own comeback victory over Paris Saint-Germain in 2016/17 – but upsets have been relatively few and far between, simply due to the power of Europe’s very top clubs. A result like Ajax defeating Real Madrid throws that all into flux, and has given a new air of unpredictability to the Champions League – something that was very much needed after years of Madrid dominance.
