Great comebacks
Champions League final
(Istanbul, 2005)
Liverpool 3 AC Milan 3
(Liverpool won 3-2 on penalties)
LIVERPOOL beat Milan in a penalty shoot-out to win the Champions League after coming from three down at half-time. Paolo Maldini gave Milan a first-minute lead, and two goals from Hernan Crespo put them in a seemingly unassailable position Captain Steven Gerrard gave Liverpool hope, and Vladimir Smicer and Xabi Alonso levelled in a seven-minute spell. Jerzy Dudek then saved from Andrea Pirlo and Andriy Shevchenko in the shoot-out to clinch victory.
Champions League quarter-final (April 2004)
Deportivo La Coruna 4 AC Milan 0
(Deportivo won 5-4 on aggregate)
DEPORTIVO left the San Siro after the first leg on the end of a 4-1 defeat facing the task of overhauling a three-goal deficit against an Italian defence including Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta. Walter Pandiani’s early goal was added to by Juan Carlos Valeron’s header and two minutes before half-time Albert Luque held off Nesta before smashing the ball into the roof of the net to put the home side ahead on aggregate. Veteran substitute Fran sealed the amazing comeback with a fourth goal 15 minutes from time.
Champions League group match, November, 2002
Basle 3 Liverpool 3
LIVERPOOL trailed 3-0 in Switzerland as Julio Rossi, Christian Gimenez and Timothee Atouba all found the net in the opening half an hour. Danny Murphy’s shot from the edge of the area restored some pride before Milan Baros set up Smicer for a sliding close-range finish three minutes later. Michael Owen got Liverpool level with seven minutes remaining, when he scored the rebound from his penalty. However, despite the comeback Liverpool still went crashing out of the competition in the group stage.
Champions League semi-final, 1999
Juventus 2 Manchester Utd 3
(Manchester Utd won 4-3 on agg) AFTER a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford, United went 2-0 down in the opening 10 minutes of the second leg at the Stadio Delle Alpi. Captain Roy Keane headed home from a corner and Dwight Yorke levelled the scores with a diving header from Andy Cole’s cross. Cole then netted United’s third as they reached their first European Cup final in 31 years.
Champions League final (Barcelona, 1999)
Manchester Utd 2 Bayern Munich 1
UNITED trailed for nearly the entire game after Mario Basler’s sixth-minute free-kick at the Nou Camp. But, in the most amazing finish in the history of European Cup finals, substitute Teddy Sheringham equalised with a shot on the turn from eight yards and then David Beckham’s corner was flicked on by Sheringham, and fellow substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer rifled the ball to the roof of the net.
