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The UEFA Champions League is without a doubt one of the greatest competitions in the sporting world. Since its rebranding and redesigned format in 1992 from the old European Cup, the Champions League has seen some of the greatest players, teams and managers.
But the beauty of this competition is the fact that it gives the minnows an ideal opportunity of making the name and presence of the club known to the world. We have seen great players and managers burst on to the scene in Europe's premier tournament in recent years.
But every year we have also been able to witness teams who we have never heard off, from smaller European countries. This further includes clubs who have gone on to have fairytale season by just reaching the knockout stages of the competitions, upstaging bigger teams, making improbable comebacks and finally winning the hearts and plaudits of fans from all over the world.
A recent example of the above is AS Roma from a fortnight ago. They made an unbelievable comeback from three goals down in the second leg of their quarter-final encounter against Barcelona, cancelling out a three-goal deficit from the reverse fixture, making the Catalans pay for their complacency as the Romans deservingly qualified for the last four.
So let's take a look at five of the most surprising semi-finalists in Europe in recent years:
#5 Villarreal (2005/06)
It was a remarkable 2005/06 UEFA Champions League campaign for Villarreal as they finished top of their group with 10 points registering only two wins, scoring a mere three goals and keeping five clean sheets in the six group stage matches under the management of Manuel Pellegrini.
The lineup consisted of future club greats such as Javi Venta, Diego Forlan, Marcos Senna, Joan Roman Riquelme and Santi Cazorla. Goalscoring proved to be an issue for the Spaniards throughout the competition as the back line carried the bulk of the workload in Villarreal's victories and progress in the knockout stages.
Two goals in the first leg helped the Yellow Submarines progress to the next round following a draw at home in the reverse fixture against Scottish giants Rangers. The task proved to get tougher when Villarreal were paired up against Inter Milan in the last eight.
A 2-1 loss away at Inter meant that the tie was evenly balanced with the second leg to be played at home. A solitary goal from Rodolfo Arruabarrena was enough for the Spanish club to make it to the semis as once again the defence proved to be the backbone in shutting out the Nerazzurri to qualify on away goals.
The semi-final fixture against Arsenal produced just one goal overall ensuring the Gunners passage to the final against Barcelona. Trailing by one goal from the first leg, luck ran out for Pellegrini's side as they failed to score in the return leg at El Madrigal.
Villarreal's run to the final four of Europe has got to be one of the most strange and interesting campaigns that any club has overseen in recent years. They won only one game in the entire knockouts yet still made their way through to the last four.
#4 Schalke 04 (2010/11)
The 2010/11 FC Schalke 04 squad consisted of a great balance between Germany and foreign players. The club had signed Real Madrid legend Raul Gonzalez on a free transfer in the summer.
The season proved to be a breakthrough year for players such as Benedikt Howedes, Manuel Neuer, Jefferson Farfan, Ivan Rakitic, Jermaine Jones, Julian Draxler and Kyriakos Papadopolous. Schalke finished top of their group in the Champions League, with 13 points ahead of Lyon and Benfica.
In the Round of 16, the Germans beat Valencia 4-2 on aggregate to go and face reigning champions Inter Milan in the last eight. Prior to their quarter-final clash, Schalke had a change in management as Felix Magath had been fired due to poor performances domestically and was replaced by Ralf Ragnick.
Under Ragnick, the team was set up in a more attacking manner with the likes of Raul, Farfan and Klaas Jan Huntelaar along with an energetic midfield comprising of Rakitic, Jones and Jose Manuel Jurado.
The Gelsenkirchen club stunned Inter at the San Siro, beating them 5-2 in the first leg and then going on to win the second leg 2-1, trumping the 2010 Champions League winners 7-3 on aggregate. Inter were totally outplayed in both the games as Schalke made the Italians pay for their errors and complacency, deservingly going through to the next round.
In the semi-finals, they faced a very strong Manchester United side and were on the receiving end of a crushing defeat, losing by a respectful 2-0 scoreline at home before being smashed 4-1 at Old Trafford in the second leg. Despite being knocked out in the last four in Europe, it was a successful campaign for Schalke as they won the DFB Pokal German Cup.
#3 Olympique Lyonnais (2009/10)
The 2009/10 Olympique Lyon team had a great pool of young and emerging talent, which included the likes of Hugo Lloris, Mathieu Valbuena, Dejan Lovren, Alexandre Lacazette, Miralem Pjanic and many more.
They finished second in the league but had a memorable Champions League campaign, reaching the final four under the management of current Leicester City boss Claude Puel. They finished second in the group stages behind Fiorentina, earning a win and a draw against Liverpool to finish six points clear of the third-placed Reds.
This young Lyon squad faced a tall order of going up against the firepower of Real Madrid in the Round of 16, as the Los Blancos had acquired a wealth of star talent in the summer transfer window, most notably Cristiano Ronaldo.
But the big names did not faze the French club as they took advantage of Real's poor form and vulnerability beating them at home and getting a draw at the Bernebau to progress to the last eight. In the next round, they faced familiar foes, in the form of league rivals FC Bordeaux.
Lyon took the command of the tie in the first leg itself, beating their French counterparts 3-1 at home and in spite of losing the second leg they hung on to a 3-2 aggregate win. In the semi-finals, they were paired up against eventual Champions League runners-up Bayern Munich.
Having narrowly lost the first leg in Germany by a one-goal margin, Les Gones were trumped 3-0 at home, crashing out of the tournament 4-0 on aggregate. It was the end of a journey where a team of several young players played fearlessly and announced themselves to the world, not just competing with the world's best footballers but also winning against them.
Miralem Pjanic was the mainstay of Lyon's Champions League success, finishing top for his team with four goals and four assists respectively whereas a young 23 year old rising star Hugo Lloris kept five clean sheets.
#2 Deportivo La Coruna (2003/04)
The period in the early 2000s is one of Deportivo La Coruna's most successful years in the history of the club as they had attained regular and consistent participation in Europe under the guidance of manager Javier Irureta. Prior to the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League semi-final finish, Deportivo's most successful stint was reaching the quarter-finals in 2001.
The Spaniards finished second and level on points with PSV Eindhoven in the group stages but narrowly edged out the Dutch club as a result of a better Head To Head record. In the Round of 16, Depor beat Juventus 2-0, winning both the legs by a one-goal margin.
In the last eight, they faced stiff competition from AC Milan and were blown away in the first leg 4-1 at the San Siro. However, the Galicians defied the odds and got off to an electric start in the second leg, taking a 3-0 lead in the first half. At this stage, Depor were qualifying on the away goals rule but a 76th-minute goal from Fran sealed the tie as the Spanish club went through 5-4 to the final four.
A narrow 1-0 defeat in the second leg of the semis knocked Deportivo out but their comeback against Milan in the quarter-final will always be illustrious in the history books as they became the first ever team to overturn a three-goal deficit in the knockout stages of Europe's elite tournament.
#1 AS Monaco (2016/17)
The challenges that AS Monaco faced in the knockout stages of the 2016/17 Champions League must be one of the hardest roads trodden upon by any club in the history of the competition.
This started from the group stages itself, where they beat Tottenham Hotspur and Bayer Leverkusen to finish top of the group. A Round of 16 pairing up against Pep Guardiola's Manchester City didn't give Monaco much chance of qualification to the next round, especially after losing 5-3 at the Etihad Stadium.
A 3-1 win at home in the reverse fixture with goals from Kylian Mbappe, Fabinho and Tiemoue Bakayoko equalized the score 6-6 on aggregate and ensured qualification on away goals for the French club. In the quarter-final, Monaco beat Borussia Dortmund in both the legs, netting three goals each home and away.
Leonardo Jardim's men did a great job of containing a free-scoring Dortmund team, who were the highest goalscorers in the competition and had scored 21 goals in the group stages itself. Kamil Glik was an excellent leader in defence, organizing his back four against the trio of Marco Reus, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ousmane Dembele.
Monaco's fairytale run came to an end in the semifinals where they lost 4-1 on aggregate to Juventus. However, from a personal note, it was a defining season for many emerging players such as Bakayoko, Bernardo Silva, Benjamin Mendy, Thomas Lemar.
Teenage sensation Kylian Mbappe broke into the first team and finished as the club's top scorer in Europe with six goals whereas Mendy and Lemar finished with four assists respectively.
It proved to be a season of redemption for veteran Radamel Falcao too, as he finished with five goals in the Champions League and 30 goals in all competitions. The Champions League was a culmination of a triumphant season as they shocked the odds and beat PSG to the Ligue 1 title.
