After the end of the Champions League group stage, the 16 strongest teams of this season in Europe will enter the knockout rounds only next February, which means that we will not see Champions League duels in the next two months. During this break, we suggest recalling the 25 best Champions League matches of all time, as rated by the fourfourtwo website. Today we present the fourth part of the five-part article.
10th place - “Real” 4 : 1 “Atletico”
2013/2014 final
This final reminded older football fans of 1974. That season, “Atletico” reached the final of the then UEFA Cup, where they competed against the “Bayern” club. Leading the way, the team conceded a decisive goal in the last moments of the match, and at that time, penalty shootouts had not yet been introduced, and in the subsequent rematch, they suffered a crushing failure of 0:4.
After this match, “Bayern” became one of the strongest European teams, while “Atletico” was dubbed the “cursed ones” - a team always doomed to be behind other clubs. Although Diego Simeone and his disciples had won the title of “La Liga” champions, they were still overshadowed by another city team - “Real”, with whom they faced in this final.
The final match started unsuccessfully for the “Atletico” club - Diego Costa's injury renewed in the eighth minute, but in the end, we saw the usual battle for every inch of the field by D. Simeone's disciples, and Diego Godin's goal put “Atletico” ahead. Putting in heroic efforts in defense, this team held on until the 92nd minute and 48 seconds, when Sergio Ramos repeated the unfavorable history for this club, scoring the equalizing goal in the last moments of the match.
The teams had to play extra time, but the exhausted “Atletico” without substitutions could not seriously resist the “Real” club, which scored three goals and won their tenth title in this tournament. The victory was brought to this team by goals from Gareth Bale, Marcelo, and Cristiano Ronaldo.
9th place - “Werder” 5 : 3 “Anderlecht”
1993/1994 group stage match
With only 24 minutes left to play, Bremen’s “Werder” trailed 0:3, and the fans gathered in the stadium for this team's victory hardly believed. However, the coach of this team, Otto Rehhagel, never gave up, and the reason he attributed to an almost unknown player - Wynton Rufer.
The New Zealand striker so impressed his coach that after the first training session, O. Rehhagel went to his disciple and asked, “Why aren't you playing for the Madrid 'Real' club?” It was with W. Rufer's goal that the historical comeback of “Werder” in the match began.
In the last 24 minutes, the German club scored four more goals, and the bewildered Belgian champions could not understand how they managed to lose this match for a long time.
Match video
8th place - “Borussia” 3 : 2 “Malaga”
2012/2013 quarterfinal second leg
Having won their group, where they were in the same group with “Manchester City” and “Real” clubs, and in the round of 16, beating “Shakhtar”, Jurgen Klopp's disciples in the quarterfinals met the newcomers of the Champions League, the “Malaga” players. However, this team was dangerous and not only had a well-performing coach Manuel Pellegrini but also experienced veterans like Jeremy Toulalan, Joaquin, or Roque Santa Cruz, who formed the core of the team along with the brightly shining young talent Isco.
The first leg in Spain ended in a goalless draw, but the return leg did not disappoint the viewers of this match. Joaquin opened the goal-scoring, putting the guests ahead, and just before the break, Robert Lewandowski equalized. In the second half, “Borussia” sought the goal they needed, but they could not break through the visitors' defense, and in the 82nd minute, during Eliseu's counter-attack, he scored the second “Malaga” goal, bringing his club closer to the dream semifinal.
The hosts needed two goals, but in the remaining eight minutes of regular time, they failed to come anywhere close to their goal. When hopes of advancing to the next stage were almost dead, Marco Reus, in the first minute of added time, gave his club a chance to survive.
Aiming for the last moments of the match, the “Malaga” season in Europe ended in the most painful way: Felipe Santana not only killed them just before the end of the match but also scored a goal from an obvious offside, which the match referee did not register. After this goal, there was no joy for J. Klopp nor understandable anger for “Malaga”.
7th place - “Juventus” 2 : 3 “Manchester United”
1998/1999 semifinal second leg
In the Champions League semifinals of the 1998-1999 season, two worthy teams faced each other: “Manchester United” and “Juventus”. The first leg at the “Old Trafford” stadium ended in a 1:1 draw, so there were no clear favorites before the return match.
At the beginning of the match, a man raged, whom the then “United” coach Alex Ferguson later described as “He was born offside” - Filippo Inzaghi. In just 11 minutes, the Italian scored two goals and allowed the hosts to take the lead. Despite the efforts of this player, the “Red Devils” had their hero.
Roy Keane played his best match in the “United” ranks and not only scored the first goal for the team but was also a crucial figure for the Manchester club in scoring the next two goals and participating in all the most important moments of the match, leading his club to the Champions League final against Bayern Munich.
6th place - “Monaco” 3 : 1 “Real”
2003/2004 quarterfinal second leg
Having won the first leg at home 4:2 and taking the lead in the return match by 1:0, the “Real” footballers were confident in their advancement to the Champions League semi-finals. In this club played such stars as Raul, Ronaldo, or Zinedine Zidane, so with 45 minutes left, hardly anyone believed that “Monaco” would be able to escape the three-goal deficit separating them from the next stage.
But this did not stop Fernando Morientes, who became the incredible hero of the match. Initially creating Ludovico Giuly's goal, he later scored himself, and finally L. Giuly finished the “Real” club's season in the Champions League by scoring the third team goal.
By the way, F. Morientes not only belonged to the “Real” club at that time, which loaned him to “Monaco”, but the “royal” club also paid 65% of his salary. However, this did not prevent the Spaniard from not only becoming a key figure in eliminating them from the Champions League but also emotionally celebrating this victory.
“I intend to enjoy it,” F. Morientes said after the match, who returned to the “Real” club next season and played against some players who still felt the pain.
