Champions League Greatest Comebacks

By Joshua Walters

Manchester United's historic comeback in the Champions League on Wednesday against Paris Saint-Germain has taken PredictionBoard.com down  memory lane as we look back at some of the stunning turnarounds the competition has produced over years.

Manchester United displayed a titillating performance to turnaround a 2-0 deficit against PSG to silence the Parc des Princes and also qualified to the next stage of the competition.

There has not been a team that has made it through to the next stage of the Champions League after losing 2-0 at home, and exploits of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Manchester United thus bring another record to the table, courtesy Romelu Lukaku's brace and Marcus Rashford's late goal from a spot-kick. 

In analyzing the comebacks, PredictionBoard.com delved into previous Champions League second-leg turnarounds in the competition.

Deportivo La Coruna 4-0 AC Milan (Deportivo win 5-4 on aggregate) – April 2004.

It was not a surprise in the football domain as Seria A giants AC Milan humiliated Deportivo 4-1 in a Champions League first leg tie at the San Siro in March as superstars Kaka, Andriy Shevchenko, and Andrea Pirlo all shined in the game.

But things turned around for the Spanish outfit in the first half of the second leg game with three goals by Walter Pandiani before Fran put Deportivo in the lead in the 76th minute to win the game for the hosts. 

Monaco 3-1 Real Madrid (Monaco progress on away goals after 5-5 aggregate score) – April 2004.

Real Madrid won 4-2 against Monaco in the first leg but failed to progress to the next stage of the competition as their former player Morientes scored in both ties.

Monaco restored their pride in the second leg game after Morientes had put the French club ahead before Ludovic Giuly ensure they eliminate Madrid from the competition with a 3-1 win to progress on away goals after a 5-5 aggregate.

Manchester United 3-0 Olympiacos (Manchester United win 3-2 on aggregate) – March 2014.

Manchester United had appointed David Moyes as the new manager after Sir Alex Furguson had retired, but Moyes job was on the line after being defeated by Olympiacos 2-0 at Old Trafford in the Champions League.

But, Robin Van Persie brought relief to the visitors after scoring a hat-trick in Greece to give the Red Devils a berth in the quarter-finals.

Chelsea 2-0 Paris Saint-Germain (Chelsea progress on away goals after 3-3 aggregate score) – April 2014.

Chelsea have also written their name in the record books of turnaround having lost 3-1 at the Parc de Princess with Eden Hazard getting the vital away goal for the Blues.

Two goals from two substitutes sent Chelsea through after Andre Schurrle got the first ahead of Demba Ba's 87th-minute strike.

Roma 3-0 Barcelona (Roma progress on away goals after a 4-4 aggregate score) – April 2018.

Barcelona suffered the shock of their life after they were eliminated by AS Roma after they have won 4-1 at the Camp Nou. Roma counted on three goals from Edin Dzeko, Daniele De Rossi and a late strike from Kostas Manolas to beat Barcelona 3-0 at home and peg the aggregate at 4-4.

Barcelona 6-1 Paris Saint-Germain (Barcelona win 6-5 on aggregate) – March 2017.

Barcelona performance in March 2017 was the first time ever a club overturned a four-goal first-leg deficit in the history of the Champions League.

PSG humbled Barcelona 4-0 in France, making things look difficult for the Spanish giants to qualify to the next stage.

The late drama of the game was witnessed in the dying stage of the game as goals from Neymar and Sergi Roberto completed the turnaround for the Catalans