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The Champions League is the world’s greatest club competition. Year in, year out, Europe’s elite clubs battle it out for the biggest prize in club football.
Over the years we have seen some memorable moments in the competition, with some of the world’s finest players producing their best form. In recent years it has been Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo who have been the stars of the show, with the pair the only two in the competition’s history to have scored more than 100 goals.
It has been the Spanish clubs who have dominated the Champions League over the past decade. Seven out of the last ten winners have come from Spain, with Real Madrid emerging victories in each of the last three years under Zinedine Zidane.
But, at times, the Champions League gives opportunities for a shock. While we have seen these giants of European football succeed on a number of occasions, there have been times when they have been shocked by smaller teams, with squads which are on paper much weaker.
Here are five of the biggest shocks we have seen in the Champions League since the turn of the century.
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#1 Barcelona 2-2 Chelsea (2012)
This one may have ended as a draw on the night, but it was enough to see Chelsea through on aggregate. Having won the first leg of their semi-final 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, the Blues went into the game at the Nou Camp with a slight advantage, but coming up against one of the best club sides we have ever seen.
They trailed early on to a Sergio Busquets goal, and had John Terry dismissed, before Andres Iniesta added a second for Barcelona. But with a makeshift back four, now including Branislav Ivanovic and Jose Bosingwa at centre back, Chelsea put themselves in a position to progress thanks to Ramires’ superb chip just before the break.
They defended excellently after the break, with Lionel Messi also missing a penalty for the hosts. Roberto di Matteo’s side secured progress in injury time, when Fernando Torres rounded Victor Valdes to score.
#2 Manchester United 1-1 Porto (2004)
This game is best known for the night that Jose Mourinho bought himself to the attention of European football. Porto came into the second leg at Old Trafford 2-1 up, thanks to a brilliant double from Benni McCarthy in the first leg in Portugal. However, Manchester United’s away goal, scored by Quinton Fortune, gave them a good chance to progress.
And it looked like United had done enough to progress, when Paul Scholes gave them the lead half an hour into the game. It all went wrong in the final minute though, when ‘keeper Tim Howard fumbled McCarthy’s free kick, and Francisco Costinha was on hand to send the Portuguese giants through.
The goal saw Jose Mourinho charge down the touchline to celebrate with his players, an iconic image in the Special One’s career.
#3 Real Madrid 1-4 Ajax (2019)
This result came in the most recent set of Champions League fixtures, with the Eredivisie champions dumping out the reigning European champions in their own back yards. There is little doubting that this Real Madrid team is weaker than the one that won the Champions League trophy last season, with the notable absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, but on paper, their squad was still much stronger than Ajax’s.
However, Ajax came to the Bernabeu and produced a superb display, overturning Real’s 2-1 lead from the first leg. Dusan Tadic was the star of the show for the Dutch giants, scoring once and setting up another two, before Lasse Schone secured Ajax’s progress with a brilliant free kick.
The game proved decisive for Real manager Santiago Solari, who was in charge for just one more game before being replaced by Zinedine Zidane.
#4 Celtic 2-1 Barcelona (2012)
While most of the famous Champions League shocks have come in the knockout rounds, this is perhaps the greatest that we have seen in the group stage for a number of years. Barcelona, although perhaps weaker than in previous years, still had one of the fiercest attacking line-ups in Europe, led of course by the great Lionel Messi. Celtic, on the other hand, had a much weaker squad, and a considerably smaller budget.
But despite all the odds, Celtic came out on top. Victor Wanyama gave The Bhoys the lead in the first half, before Tony Watt added a second after the break. Messi pulled one back late on for Barcelona, but it was too little, too late. Celtic picked up a famous win, despite having just 16% possession, and completing only 166 passes, compared to Barcelona’s 955.
#5 Roma 3-0 Barcelona (2018)
It isn’t often that a team as good as Barcelona blows a two-goal lead over two legs of a Champions League tie. The Spanish giants won the first leg 4-1, which should have given them an unassailable lead, with two own goals helping them take control of the tie.
Roma gave themselves a slim ray of hope in the early minutes of the second leg, with Edin Dzeko giving them the lead. Daniele de Rossi’s penalty just after the break reduced the deficit to one, before Kostas Manolas popped up with a header in injury time to give Roma a historic win. They went on to reach the semi-finals, where they were beaten 7-6 on aggregate by Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool side were defeated by Real Madrid 3-1 in the final of the 2017-18 Champions League competiti.
