After the end of the Champions League group stage, the 16 strongest teams of the season will compete in the knockout matches only next year, in February. This means that we will not see any Champions League clashes for the next two months.
During this break, let's remember the 25 best Champions League matches of all time, ranked by the fourfourtwo website. Today we present the first part of the five-part article.
25th place - "Dinamo Zagreb" 1 : 7 "Lyon" 2011/2012 season group stage match Could you name the author of the fastest Champions League hat-trick? If not, you probably don't remember one cold December evening at the "Maksimir" stadium, where Bafetimbi Gomis tore apart the Zagreb "Dinamo" defense, leading his team to a much-needed 7:1 victory. Before this match, Lyon's chances of progressing to the next stage were modest: they not only needed a Ajax loss at home against Real and their own win, but also to overturn a seven-goal difference in the goals scored/conceded column. The beginning of the match did not promise anything good for the French team: even though the opponents remained in double digits in the first half, the first goal was scored by the hosts in the 40th minute, with 17-year-old Mateo Kovačić, who now plays for Real Madrid, standing out among them. However, then came the aforementioned B. Gomis, who equalized the score at the end of the first half, and from the start of the second half, the goals against the Croatian goalkeepers fell one after another. The situation was also favorable in the Ajax match, where they lost to the opponents 0:3, so Lyon's seven goals were enough to miraculously advance to the next stage. However, there were talks after the match that this match could have been unfair. Such talks were further fueled by a camera-recorded incident after the fifth goal, when one of Dinamo's players winked at B. Gomis. After the match, even the Dinamo team took action, firing their coach, citing the "experienced shame" as the reason.
24th place - "Leeds United" 4 : 1 "Stuttgart" 1992/1993 season first leg match At the start of the renewed Champions League, a controversial decision was made - "Leeds United" and "Stuttgart" clubs had to play extra matches after their series ended in a 4:4 draw. Wondering why Stuttgart did not advance to the next stage due to an away goals rule? The fault lies with the German champions themselves. After winning 3:0 at home, they later scored a crucial away goal, which was meant to help their club advance to the next stage. However, in the 83rd minute, the away team's coach violated the then UEFA rules by fielding more than three eligible foreigners, and after the match, UEFA decided that the match result had to be annulled, giving Leeds a 3:0 win, making the series result completely level. The extra match took place at the Camp Nou stadium, where Leeds celebrated a 2:1 victory and advanced to the next stage.
