10 greatest European comebacks ever

10 – Benfica 1-3 Ajax (4-4 agg)
European Cup, quarter-final second leg, 1968-69

Eusebio must have hated Inge Danielsson. Two years earlier, he’d fired Sweden to a 2-1 win over Portugal in Lisbon; now here he was scoring again. Yet this European humdinger wasn’t about his four goals across three legs. A baton was passed, from Eusebio’s Benfica to Johan Cruyff’s Ajax.

Benfica had graced five of the past eight European Cup finals. Ajax would grace four of the next five. How fitting, then, that this changing of the guard would be represented in microcosm by a power shift within one tie. Benfica won 3-1 in deep Dutch snow, despite midfielder Toni having not seen snow before – but Ajax led 3-0 at half-time in a stunned Estadio da Luz. Benfica forced a play-off in Paris, where 40,000 Amsterdammers saw their side win 3-0 via Danielsson and Cruyff, who shared all seven Ajax goals over the tie.

Though they’d lose the final, Cruyff’s Ajax then conquered Europe in 1971, ’72 and ’73. Neither Eusebio nor Benfica would do so again. The king was dead; long live the king.

9 – Deportivo 4-0 Milan (5-4 agg)
Champions League, quarter-final second leg, 2003-04

Deportivo became the first team in the Champions League era to overturn a three-goal first-leg deficit, a result so surprising that Andrea Pirlo still hadn’t got over it a decade later: in his 2014 book, he wondered if Depor’s fired-up players “might have been on something”.

Holders Milan hadn’t conceded on the road in Europe that campaign. They’d topped their group with the fewest goals, though – four in six matches – and even scoring that many in one game wasn’t enough against Deportivo, who’d pulled off this trick before (see No.13).

Depor led 3-0 at the interval after unusual mistakes from Dida and Alessandro Nesta. One-club man Fran found a gratuitous fourth, Javier Irureta celebrated another comeback, while Carlo Ancelotti consoled himself that at least the 2004-05 season couldn’t bring Milan any greater embarrassment than this...

8 – Real Madrid 4-0 Borussia M’gladbach (5-5 agg)
UEFA Cup, third round second leg, 1985-86

We shouldn’t conflate fightbacks with upsets. In the mid-80s, Madrid were the comeback kids and showed that sometimes, would-be giantkillers end up killed by giants. 

They’d repeatedly given sides a headstart in their 1984-85 UEFA Cup triumph, rising from the dead against Rijeka (from 0-3 to 4-3 on aggregate), then Anderlecht (0-3 to 6-4) and Inter (0-2 to 3-2). Clearly, this was a winning formula, so they went about defending their title – successfully, it turned out – by losing first legs to AEK Athens, Gladbach and Inter. 

Yet even when a 5-1 loss in Germany left Real with a lot to do and without the banned Hugo Sanchez to do it, Los Blancos remained bullish. Juanito combined ambition on the ball with savagery off it, and set up a couple of goals. When he was substituted late on at the Bernabeu, he literally jumped for joy. 

Real Madrid won back-to-back UEFA Cups and the first of five consecutive La Liga titles. Don’t you just love a happy ending?

7 – Middlesbrough 4-2 Steaua (4-3 agg)
UEFA Cup, semi-final second leg, 2005-06

After coasting into the knockouts with six clean sheets, the Teessiders teetered on thin ice. Twice, they won on away goals having let a 2-0 lead slip, then they trailed 3-0 to Basel only to perform a stunning Lazarus act.

This was Act II. Boro required four goals at the Riverside again, scored in the 33rd minute again, and struck twice in the second period again, with Massimo Maccarone completing another remarkable recovery at the death. 

There’d be no such heroics against Sevilla in the final – Steve McClaren forgot there was no second leg in which to bounce back. Southgate retired but Mark Schwarzer, Boro’s goalkeeper for their incredible journey, later played 18 games in Fulham’s own odyssey to the Europa League final. Second time lucky? Nope!

6 – Fulham 4-1 Juventus (5-4 agg)
Europa League, last 16 second leg, 2009-10

When David Trezeguet notched after only 107 seconds, Juve led 4-1 on aggregate. They had five World Cup winners. Fulham didn’t care. Bobby Zamora bagged after shrugging off Fabio ‘Ballon d’Or’ Cannavaro, who was soon red-carded. Zoltan Gera struck twice, pulling the hosts level, and celebrated his double with a double somersault. Then Clint Dempsey chipped one of the great winners.

Roy Hodgson’s side eventually lost the final to the Atletico Madrid of Sergio Aguero, David de Gea and Diego Forlan.

5 – Ajax 2-3 Tottenham (3-3 agg)
Champions League, semi-final second leg, 2018-19

Tottenham’s quarter-final triumph over Manchester City had been unexpected. This was unfathomable. Ajax had announced Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt and Donny van de Beek to the world, while making stars out of Hakim Ziyech and Dusan Tadic. They’d ousted Real Madrid and Juventus, won 4-1 at the Bernabeu and hit 165 goals that season, adding No.166 and No.167 here. Spurs were dazed, out of form and without Harry Kane.

But they’d been on life support before: with 15 minutes left in their fourth group match, Spurs had one point. In Amsterdam, they had nothing to lose. Lucas Moura slotted a fine first goal and sensational second, then Dele Alli’s flick (as why wouldn’t you try something with the clock on 94:59?) teed up the treble. 

Ajax’s youngsters collapsed onto the grass and Mauricio Pochettino collapsed into tears. Had we ever seen such scenes before...?

4 – Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona (4-3 agg)
Champions League, semi-final second leg, 2018-19

Liverpool trailed 3-0 and carried sufficient injuries for Jurgen Klopp to say pre-match, “We start with 11 players and that’s good.” Still, who needs Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino when you’ve got Divock Origi and Xherdan Shaqiri? Origi opened the scoring, Alisson’s heroics and Georginio Wijnaldum’s quickfire brace levelled the tie on aggregate, before Klopp’s men closed it with a moment of majesty. Spotting that Barça were being typically slow at setting up for a defensive set-piece, Trent Alexander-Arnold whipped in an unreasonably good cross, practically on the turn, and Origi did the rest. 

Barcelona hadn’t learned lessons from the previous season’s Roma debacle (see No.12). The Spanish press flayed Ernesto Valverde’s flops with words ranging from ‘shameful’ and ‘stupid’ to ‘the greatest humiliation in history’. The Merseysiders had made their own history. Beating Tottenham in the Madrid showpiece was almost an afterthought.

3 – Barcelona 1-4 Metz (5-6 agg)
Cup Winners’ Cup, first round second leg, 1984-85

The Catalans’ reaction to a 4-2 first-leg win in France was lifted directly from The Book of Hubris. Midfielder Bernd Schuster offered the Metz players some local ham “to thank them for our presents”; Barça’s vice-president even invited them to watch the following round as guests.

But pisstake turned to mistake. In a half-empty Camp Nou, Barça extended their advantage and continued to attack, just as a fly attacks a spider’s web. Metz countered dangerously through the pacy Tony Kurbos, delighting the two travelling journalists (French TV didn’t even bother televising it). With five minutes left, the hosts were clinging onto away goals. After Kurbos completed his hat-trick, having also forced an own goal, shot-stopper Michel Ettorre bellowed at Schuster, “Where’s your ham now?!” Accompanying the egg on his face and chip on Ettorre’s shoulder, probably.

Metz, triumphant, faced Bordeaux on their next trip. They lost 6-0.

2 – Milan 3-3 Liverpool (2-3 pens)
Champions League, final, 2004-05

Anfield needs a statue of Steve Finnan’s groin. His injury necessitated a half-time change in Istanbul where, as you may know, Liverpool trailed Milan 3-0. They’d dug deep to find three second-half goals against Olympiakos when required, doubling their group-stage tally, but this was the final – a recovery was impossible. Except it wasn’t, as substitute Didi Hamann was now plugging the gaps left by Steven Gerrard whenever he felt bored.

Liverpool’s 4-4-1-1 hadn’t worked against Milan’s midfield diamond. They’d conceded in the first minute, ignoring Andy Townsend’s exhortation to “be alive in these early stages, Clive” by letting Paolo Maldini score. Hernan Crespo added two, one assisted gloriously by Kaka, while Milan also had a goal disallowed and spurned a two-on-two. Rafael Benitez’s switch to 3-4-2-1 protected the defence and freed up Gerrard, who steered home a fine header and then won the equalising penalty.

At the other end, Jerzy Dudek’s miraculous double save in the 117th minute took the tie to spot-kicks. The Reds prevailed courtesy of more Dudek heroics – Benitez thanked him by promptly signing Pepe Reina – and at half past midnight in Turkey, Liverpool won a fifth European Cup.

1 – Barcelona 6-1 PSG (6-5 agg)
Champions League, last 16 second leg, 2016-17

The clock read 87:23 when Neymar netted what was obviously a consolation. Though it put Barcelona 4-1 up in the second leg, they needed six, PSG having obliterated them 4-0 in Paris. Some 96,000 fans were in the Camp Nou to see the stars; Barça’s best hope was to wish upon one.

Their rebellion had been quashed at 3-0 by Edinson Cavani’s emphatic finish. But Neymar grabbed the game by its balls. On 87:23, he curled home an unstoppable free-kick. Barely 90 seconds later, Luis Suarez tumbled and this time, contact accompanied his dive. As the clock turned red, Neymar – not Suarez, and not Lionel Messi – confidently scored the penalty. One more goal needed.

For PSG, four minutes’ stoppage time feels like four hours. Gerard ‘Targetman’ Pique can’t quite direct a flick-on. Three minutes remain. A Barcelona hoof goes straight out of play. Two minutes. Ter Stegen attacks a free-kick; it’s cleared and Marco Verratti steals the ball on halfway, but with Barça’s goal gaping, the keeper scrambles back. Thirty seconds. PSG repel another free-kick.

Then Neymar, under extraordinary pressure, shows extraordinary composure. Feinting to shoot from well outside the box, he stops his follow-through and stabs a flat, chipped pass over 10 PSG players into Sergi Roberto, who launches himself at the ball. With 20 seconds remaining, it crosses the line for the 11th and final time in a staggering contest.