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There is always something special about winning the Champions League. While domestic success improves the stature of clubs in their own country, it is always their European pedigree which earns plaudits and respect across Europe. Expectedly, not many clubs find themselves in the upper echelons of European greatness making every win special.
Thus, every top team across Europe aspires to lift the trophy at the end of the season and more often than not, the teams with the best players and history tend to be on the winning side. Hence, every time a bunch of players chooses to write their own script, eyebrows turn and their story is etched into Champions League folklore.
Ever since the European Cup became the Champions League in 1992, there have only been a handful of teams who bucked the trend and won Europe's top-tier club competition. Let's take a look at the top five teams whose success story is still told around today.
#5 Borussia Dortmund, 1997
Borussia Dortmund's run into the Champions League final in 1997 was quite unexpected. While the German side was dominant in the Bundesliga, having won back-to-back league titles in 1995 and 1996, the same could not be said of their European pedigree. Led by legendary German manager, Ottmar Hitzfeld, the likes of Matthias Sammer, Andreas Moller and Karl-Heinz Riedle conquered Europe.
Dortmund finished second in the group stage behind Atletico Madrid on goal difference. This was followed by a matchup against French side Auxerre who were dispatched 4-1 over two legs. Then, Die Schwarzgelben overcame Manchester United over two legs winning 1-0 in each one unconvincingly. After an underwhelming run into the final, no one gave them a chance against defending champions, Juventus, who boasted with the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Christian Vieri, and Didier Deschamps.
The Bundesliga side played the final in the home stadium of their fierce rivals, Bayern Munich. In a matter of 90 minutes, Dortmund not only won the tie but also dominated the Old Lady to earn their European stripes. Paul Lambert shut down Zidane's magic to great praise while former Juventus' players, Jurgen Kohler, Paulo Sousa and Andreas Moller, Riedle and Sammer, ran the show.
Despite Alessandro Del Piero pulling one back coming off the bench, local boy Lars Ricken scored after seven minutes to seal the victory and give Germany their first-ever Champions League title in a stunning fashion. As unfancied as they were, Dortmund started the trend of teams bucking the odds in the new format and set the tone for future teams.
#4 Manchester United, 1999
The first English team on this list is Manchester United, as teams from the Premier League have won the coveted trophy more often than not as underdogs. Manchester United’s first-ever Champions League win under Sir Alex Ferguson in 1999 is undoubtedly one of the greatest success stories in football.
The Red Devils were drawn into a “Group of Death” with Bayern Munich and Barcelona in the Champions League group stages. Despite failing to beat either of the top teams, United inflicted heavy defeats on Danish side, Brondby, to get through based on other group results.
United then faced two Italian sides in the knockout stages as they tried to break the jinx of not winning in Italy. Ferguson’s side saw off Inter Milan with a win at Old Trafford and a draw at San Siro. This was followed by an even tougher test in the form of Juventus consisting of the likes of Del Piero, Zidane, Edgar Davids and Antonio Conte.
The current Chelsea boss clinched a valuable away goal at Old Trafford before United brought out their famous resilience to equalize through Ryan Giggs. However, Filippo Inzaghi scored twice in the space of 11 minutes to dent the English side’s chances in the second leg. Nevertheless, led by a Roy Keane masterclass, they not only clawed back into the match but also completed the comeback to engineer their first-ever win in Italy.
In the final, Bayern Munich earned themselves an early lead and held on to it for most of the game as United were without their first-choice midfield duo, Keane, and Paul Scholes, through suspension. However, super substitutes Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solksjaer had other ideas as they scored twice in injury team to break German hearts and make history.
Thus, that Manchester United team were not deemed as favorites right from the group stage but kept believing in themselves to create a campaign to remember.
#3 Chelsea, 2012
Chelsea's spectacular against-the-odds win in 2012 is truly the highlight of the Champions league in this decade, especially with the way Barcelona and Real Madrid have dominated the competition. Considering how close the Blues came to winning it (at least reached the semifinals in 5 out of the previous 8 seasons), they finally won in the most unlikely of circumstances.
While the unbreakable side Jose Mourinho built during his time with Chelsea saw them dominate England, European glory always eluded them. However, when the 2011-12 season came around, the Blues were far from their best. The London side struggled to get going in the Premier League as they ran out of contention for Champions League spots sooner than they would have liked.
The subsequent sacking of manager, Andre Villas-Boas, led to barely any expectations for the business end of the season. Thus, when Chelsea lined up against a resurgent Napoli in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 after losing the first leg 1-3, everyone expected Napoli to get through with little difficulty.
However, it proved anything but otherwise, as the core of the previous decade, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Petr Cech and Didier Drogba dug deep under the calm leadership of caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo and performed a stunning comeback to win the match 4-1 in extra-time and seal progress to the quarterfinals.
Benfica were put away with a 3-1 aggregate in the quarters setting up a revenge match with Barcelona, after the pain of 2009 at Stamford Bridge where Andres Iniesta had scored in injury-time to seal the Catalans place in the final.
However, it was the Blues who had the last laugh with Lionel Messi continuing his goalless streak against the English side as Chelsea won 1-0 at home. This was followed by a classic at Camp Nou where Drogba and co. played with 10 men for most of the game and managed to draw 2-2, sealing their place in the final.
As Chelsea's experienced guard took charge of the situation, they once again dug deep in the final against Bayern Munich at the latter's home ground as Drogba scored a late header of his side's first corner of the match to extend the match into extra-time. Then, Petr Cech saved Arjen Robben's penalty and Drogba scored the final spot-kick in the penalty shootout to script one of the greatest underdog victories in football.
While it remains Chelsea's only Champions League win till date, it is one to stay as an inspiration for every non-favorite team in the competition.
#2 FC Porto, 2004
The beginning of Jose Mourinho is also one of the greatest underdog moments in Champions League history. The Portuguese took FC Porto, a team outside Europe’s top four leagues, to win Europe’s biggest crown against all odds in 2004. The Primeira Liga side became a dominant force in Portugal under Mourinho, however, it is his European success that truly elevated him.
Porto got through a group consisting of Real Madrid, FK Partizan, and Olympique Marseille to encounter Ferguson’s highly-successful Manchester United in the round of 16. In a classic David vs Goliath encounter, Mourinho’s defense led by the likes Paulo Ferreira and Ricardo Carvalho held strong as his side beat United 2-0 in Portugal before drawing 1-1 at Old Trafford. Mourinho’s wild celebrations after knocking out the English side still reverberate around the stadium.
Afer announcing themselves on Europe’s biggest stage, Porto beat Olympique Lyon 4-2 on aggregate in the quarters to continue their dream run. In the semi-finals, their defense once again was unbreachable as they saw off Deportivo La Coruna, who had scripted a superb comeback against AC Milan to reach the semis.
In the final, they faced a resurgent AS Monaco, and led by star playmaker Deco, they annihilated the Ligue 1 side by scoring three goals without reply to complete one of the greatest underdog stories in European history. After all, every other team on this list comes from a top-ranked league except Porto, emphasizing the magnitude of their achievement.
#1 Liverpool, 2005
Topping the list is another English side, Liverpool who were extremely unlikely to win the Champions League even in the final with AC Milan. The Reds lost to Grazer AK at Anfield in the third qualifying round before making it through to the group stages. In the group stages, Rafa Benitez's side looked set for an early exit before Steven Gerrard's thunderous strike in a 3-1 win against Olympiakos helped them barely make it to the knockouts.
In the knockouts, Liverpool dispatched Bayer Leverkusen with ease and set up their first-ever meeting with Juventus after the Heysel disaster in 1985. Benitez's side put on a tactical masterclass as his team won 2-1 at Anfield before a valiant defensive display led to a 0-0 draw in Turin, propelling the unlikely contenders into the semifinals.
Liverpool came up against Mourinho's Chelsea in the last four and a fiercely-contested all-English affair, saw the Reds win the tie 1-0, thanks to Luis Garcia's now-famous 'ghost' goal. This pitted the Merseyside club against Serie A champions, AC Milan, who possessed an all-star team consisting of the likes of Cafu, Maldini, Nesta, Pirlo, Kaka, Crespo and Shevchenko. As one would expect, the Italian side raced away to a 3-0 lead in the first-half, a scoreline good enough to win any final.
However, spurred on by their own fans, the Reds were a different team altogether in the second-half and then, the miracle of Istanbul happened. In six unbelievable minutes, Liverpool scored thrice. Milan was shocked and their attempts to regain the lead were thwarted by a certain Jerzy Dudek, who dealt with every shot on goal from then on until the end of extra time.
In the penalty shootout, Dudek took a bit of inspiration from another European Cup-winning Liverpool goalkeeper, Bruce Grobbelaar, and confused the Milan players with his wobbly legs antics. The ploy worked and Liverpool completed arguably the greatest comeback in the history of the illustrious tournament.
From losing to Grazer AK in qualifying to defeat the mighty Milan after going 3-0 down in the final, Liverpool truly bucked the odds at every stage to become the kings of Europe.
