Barça, AS Rome, Liverpool … these “remontadas” from which the Reds must draw inspiration
Liverpool, beaten in the round of 16 first leg by Real Madrid (2-5), can only qualify this Wednesday by writing a big page in history in the Champions League.
The day when the book “the remontada for dummies” comes out, Liverpool will have a place of choice. The Reds, back to the wall this Wednesday (9 p.m.) at Real Madrid after their defeat in the round of 16 first leg (2-5), have already managed to raise scores in the Champions League. A look back at the craziest scenarios of the last 20 years in C1.
Deportivo La Coruna 5-4 AC Milan (quarter-final, April 2004)
Mass seemed to be said after the quarter-final go to San Siro. AC Milan, defending champion, largely dominates Deportivo La Coruna (4-1). On the way back, it’s hard to see how the Milanese armada (Maldini, Nesta, Cafu, Pirlo, Seedorf, Shevchenko…) could collapse. And yet…
With goals from Walter Pandiani (5th), Juan Carlos Valeron (35th), Albert Luque (44th) and Fran (76th), the Spanish club achieved the unthinkable. Ahead of the game, La Coruña coach Javier Irureta promised that if his side qualified they would walk the almost 70 kilometers that separate the city from Santiago de Compostela, the Galician capital. He will keep his word.
AC Milan 3-3 Liverpool (final, May 2005)
Nothing is certain when you are AC Milan. And nothing is impossible when you are Liverpool, led by its young captain, Steven Gerrard. In Istanbul, AC Milan started strong and led 3-0 at halftime (Maldini 1st, Crespo 39th and 44th). We are already planning the festivities. Then everything changes when we return from the locker room.
Gerrard (54th), Vladimir Smicer (56th) and Xabi Alonso (60th) turned things around in the space of six minutes. An extension will not be enough to decide between the two teams. AC Milan will eventually crack on penalties, with misses from Serginho, Andrea Pirlo and Andriy Shevchenko. Never has a Champions League final offered such a scenario.
SEE ALSO – Liverpool’s unforgettable comeback against AC Milan in 2005
Barcelona 6-5 Paris SG (round of 16, March 2017)
In France, in Spain and even outside, there has been a before and after March 8, 2017. The day when the word “remontada” entered everyone’s mind, and especially those of the players and supporters of Paris Saint-Germain, shocked at Camp Nou. After a demonstration at the Parc des Princes (4-0), PSG moves with serenity to Camp Nou, in the round of 16 second leg. And then the game begins.
Asphyxiated by a white-hot Catalan stadium, not varnished by arbitration and victim of a great Neymar, Paris collapses. Edinson Cavani’s goal (62nd) calmed Barça for a while. Before an unlikely end to the match, with a free kick (88th) and a penalty from Neymar (90th +1), who will join PSG the following summer, and a final goal from Sergi Roberto (90th + 5), an unlikely hero. Never has a team that won 4-0 in the first leg been eliminated in the Champions League.
AS Roma 4-4 Barcelona (quarter-finals, April 2018)
This time Barca were on the wrong side of the fence. Lionel Messi’s teammates did not shake at home, in the first leg (4-1 victory). They don’t seem to have much to fear from Roma who are already happy to be there. It is in this point that football finds all its charm.
Edin Dzeko ignites the stadio Olimpico (6th) before the captain, Daniele De Rossi scores from the penalty spot (58th). With a third goal from defender Kostas Manolas (82nd), AS Roma qualify thanks to the away goals rule. In the semi-finals, it will come close to be even stronger against Liverpool (5-2 defeat in the first leg, 4-2 victory in the return).
The joy of Alessandro Florenzi next to the dismay of Lionel Messi. AI/Reuters/Panoramic
Liverpool 4-3 Barcelona (semi-finals, May 2019)
An informed club is worth two. Or not. A year after being punished by AS Roma, FC Barcelona forgets that anything is possible in football, and especially in the Champions League. Jürgen Klopp was stunned after the first leg defeat, marked by a sublime free kick from Lionel Messi late in the game. To make matters worse, his star striker, Mohamed Salah, is forfeited on the return. Heroes need to come out of the shadows…
With the most important double of his career (7th, 79th), Divock Origi becomes a funny legend in Liverpool. He is replaced by an incoming, Georginio Wijnaldum, double express scorer (54th, 56th), guilty of having tipped the game into madness. The strong image is this stroke of genius from Trent Alexander-Arnold, who took advantage of the Catalan inattention to find Origi from a corner, for the 4th goal. Lunar at such a level.
Liverpool will dominate Tottenham in the final (2-0) with another goal from Origi. Unfortunately for the Reds, the Belgian striker, now at AC Milan, will not be there to face Real Madrid on Wednesday.
