Lest we forget
With another round of Champions League fixtures upon us, England’s representatives will be hoping that past ghosts don’t come back to haunt them. There have been moments of triumph in this competition for Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea, but here we outline some of the more forgettable evenings in Europe for England’s finest.
From over-confidence and complacency to disastrous debuts, lessons have been learned from these games. Maybe...
Liverpool 0-1 AK Graz – August 24, 2004
More than once, Liverpool came dangerously close to exiting a competition they would eventually win on a memorable night in Istanbul.
The Steven Gerrard-inspired comeback against Olympiakos sticks in the memory, but a dismal defeat to Graz has largely been forgotten.
The Austrian outfit needed to come back from a two-goal deficit in the second leg of their third qualifying round clash at Anfield – and came too close for comfort. Rafa Benitez, expecting little resistance, made three changes as his team put in a complacent performance. Mario Tokic put Graz in front just after half-time and could have taken the game beyond 90 minutes with a bit more finesse.
Chelsea 0-2 Besiktas – October 1, 2003
Chelsea’s effort on the final day of the 2002/03 season to clinch a top-four spot and Champions League qualification proved to be significant, paving the way for Roman Abramovich’s arrival and grand opening of the Russian’s chequebook.
However, Besiktas dampened the Blues’ excitement by springing a surprise win at Stamford Bridge against a Claudio Ranieri side with five new players in the line-up.
Sergen Yalcin’s double gave the Turks a strong foothold and they held on even after Ilhan Mansiz was shown red after 50 minutes. However, wins at Besiktas and Lazio ensured that the Blues finished top of their group and they eventually progressed to the semi-finals before falling to Monaco.
Maccabi Haifa 3-0 Manchester United – October 29, 2002
United had conceded first in their home clash with Maccabi Haifa, but responded strongly and strolled to a 5-2 victory.
The Red Devils were already assured of a place in the next round by the time they went to Israel for Matchday Five, and although Alex Ferguson rang the changes, he still fielded a team featuring the likes of Rio Ferdinand, the two Nevilles, Paul Scholes and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
However, goalkeeper Ricardo – making his full debut – endured a dismal night. The Spaniard was beaten from range twice before conceding a penalty that future Premier League mainstay Yakubu tucked away to complete the rout.
Arsenal 1-2 Auxerre – October 22, 2002
Arsene Wenger had a good eye for French talent during his early years at Arsenal, with five of his compatriots lining up against Auxerre, but the Ligue 1 side demonstrated that their squad wasn’t lacking in quality either.
Olivier Kapo’s thunderous strike and a Khalilou Fadiga goal gave them Auxerre a first-half advantage that they wouldn’t relent, despite the Gunners pulling one back after the interval.
Several members of the visiting French side, including both scorers and defender Jean-Alain Boumsong, went on to star in the Premier League. The group stage ended with Arsenal heading through and Auxerre exiting the competition, but Wenger’s side duly fell in the second group stage with just one win
Ajax 3-1 Manchester City – October 24, 2012
In 1995, Ajax were celebrating winning the Champions League as City fans breathed a sigh of relief at narrowly missing out on relegation from the Premier League.
Much has changed since then, though, and the star-studded Citizens travelled to Amsterdam as favourites and in desperate need of three points after picking up just one from their opening two games against Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund.
Samir Nasri’s goal got them off to the ideal start, but a young Ajax side responded with an impressive comeback topped off by a deflected Christian Eriksen effort which sent City tumbling to the bottom of their group.
Young Boys 3-2 Tottenham – August 17, 2010
After beating Manchester City to the last Champions League qualifying place, Spurs just needed to get past Young Boys to book a return to the group stage.
The task was expected to be a relatively simple one, but the first leg of the play-off was a disaster for Harry Redknapp’s side as they went three goals down in the opening half an hour on a plastic pitch in Switzerland.
Sebastien Bassong and Roman Pavlyuchenko struck either side of half-time to give them a much-needed lifeline, before a far more convincing 4-0 victory back in England helped them through.
Spartak Moscow 4-1 Arsenal – November 22, 2000
Eastern Europe was not a happy hunting ground for Arsenal in their early Champions League adventures. Defeat to Dynamo Kiev in their debut campaign was followed by a 3-0 loss to Shakhtar Donetsk that was duly followed by more pain against Spartak in the second group stage.
Sylvinho gave the Gunners a perfect start, scoring just two minutes in, but they subsequently struggled to contain the hosts in freezing temperatures and on a poor pitch. A double from Marcao, plus strikes from Yegor Titov and Robson made it a night to forget.
Arsene Wenger’s side still made it through thanks to their record against Lyon, but were defeated by eventual runners-up Valencia in the quarter-finals on away goals.
Chelsea 1-2 Basel – September 18, 2013
Swiss champions Basel stunned Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in Jose Mourinho’s first Champions League match since returning to the club.
Oscar put the Premier League side in front before half-time, but Basel wouldn’t lie down. A certain Mo Salah curled an equaliser beyond Petr Cech with 20 minutes to go, before Marco Streller headed the visitors in front from a corner.
That shock sparked the Blues into a response: they won four of their next five group games to finish on top, eventually progressing to the semi-finals where they succumbed to Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid.
Copenhagen 1-0 Manchester United – November 1, 2006
Copenhagen hadn’t started their maiden Champions League campaign brilliantly and were still waiting for their first goal or win in the competition when Manchester United visited in the fourth round of fixtures.
They soon made history, with Marcus Allback notching the scrappy match-winner late on to stun their illustrious visitors, while Cristiano Ronaldo’s even later leveller was chalked off for offside.
Thankfully, it didn’t come with disastrous consequences for the Premier League giants, who won their group and made it to the last four before being defeated by Milan.
Arsenal 2-3 Olympiakos – September 29, 2015
In the latter years of Arsene Wenger’s time in charge of Arsenal, the last 16 seemed to be the absolute peak of their Champions League capabilities.
However, a shock defeat to Olympiakos left them in danger of not making it out of the group as they were sent bottom, without a point from their opening two games. Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez had responded to Greek goals, but Alfred Finnbogason pounced on sloppy defending to net the winning goal.
The recovery did eventually arrive, and Arsenal eventually made it through in second place after a 3-0 win in Piraeus, but Wenger’s side were then hammered 5-1 on aggregate by Barcelona.
