Hope for Man City, Chelsea & Spurs – great Champions League comebacks

March 17, 2026 No Comments

Hope for Man City, Chelsea & Spurs – great Champions League comebacksImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (left), Chelsea’s Cole Palmer (centre) and Tottenham’s Dominic Solanke will all be hoping to turn around their Champions League tiesByMichael Emons, BBC Sport journalist and Bobbie Jackson, BBC Sport journalistPublished13 minutes agoIt was a tough couple of days last week for the English clubs in the Champions League.Six sides from the Premier League took part in last-16 first-leg ties, but none of them won.Two of them – Newcastle and Arsenal – secured draws, against Barcelona and Bayer Leverkusen respectively, Liverpool lost 1-0 at Galatasaray, while the other three – Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City – all suffered defeats by three-goal margins.On Tuesday and Wednesday the second legs take place with Spurs, Chelsea and City all needing something memorable against Atletico Madrid, Paris St-Germain and Real Madrid respectively.Portuguese side Sporting also begin three goals behind when they entertain Bodo/Glimt after losing in Norway last week.But there is hope for those sides that are trailing heavily.Before this season’s last 16, there have been 51 occasions of a team losing the first leg of a Champions League knockout tie by three or more goals. Four of those have progressed to the next round.We have taken a look at those instances, as well as Tottenham’s heroic 2019 comeback from 3-0 down with one half left.Keeper Kinsky substituted after only 17 minutes as Spurs collapse at Atletico

Kvaratskhelia double helps PSG thump Chelsea in first leg

Valverde’s sumptuous hat-trick punishes Man City

Ajax 2-3 Tottenham (semi-final second leg, 8 May 2019, 3-3 on agg, Spurs win on away goals)

Tottenham celebrate after beating Ajax — Image caption,

Lucas Moura’s hat-trick helped Spurs reach their first Champions League final

Tottenham travelled to Ajax for the second leg of their semi-final trailing 1-0, and things went from bad to worse in Amsterdam when Matthijs de Ligt and Hakim Ziyech put Ajax 3-0 ahead on aggregate before the break.

Spurs needed to score three times without reply to progress on away goals, and were given a glimmer of hope 10 minutes into the second half through Lucas Moura – and it was game on just four minutes later.

Moura pounced on a loose ball in the box after Fernando Llorente’s shot was saved and he curled home to put the hosts on the ropes.

The stunning turnaround was completed in the 95th minute when Moura recorded a hat-trick to seal Tottenham’s spot in the final on away goals, leaving Ajax players strewn across the turf in disbelief.

Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona (semi-final second leg, 7 May 2019, 4-3 on agg)

Divock Origi celebrates scoring for Liverpool — Image caption,

Divock Origi’s goal sparked wild scenes on another memorable Champions League night at Anfield

Just 24 hours before Tottenham’s heroics in Amsterdam, Liverpool had overturned their own three-goal deficit.

The Reds’ hopes of forcing their way back into the semi-final after a 3-0 loss to Barcelona at the Nou Camp looked slim, especially with Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino unavailable because of injury.

But Divock Origi got the ball rolling on seven minutes, before the tie really turned in the space of 166 seconds after half-time when substitute Georginio Wijnaldum scored twice.

A moment of quick thinking saw Liverpool complete the job as Trent Alexander-Arnold spotted Barcelona’s defence switch off from a corner, whipping the ball in low for Origi to fire home and spark wild scenes at Anfield.

Roma 3-0 Barcelona (quarter-final second leg, 10 April 2018, 4-4 on agg, Roma win on away goals)

Roma score against Barcelona — Image caption,

Kostas Manolas headed in a late goal as Roma secured a memorable win over Barcelona

“Roma have risen from their ruins.”

That iconic line from commentator Peter Drury summed up an incredible night as Roma clinched a memorable comeback to send Barcelona packing in the quarter-finals.

Own goals from Daniele de Rossi and Kostas Manolas helped Barca record a 4-1 win in the first leg at the Nou Camp.

Edin Dzeko’s late goal in Spain gave Roma something to build from and the forward struck early in the return leg to further strengthen their belief.

De Rossi atoned for his own goal with a second-half strike and, with just eight minutes to go, Manolas headed home a corner to end Roma’s 34-year wait for a place in the semi-finals of Europe’s leading competition.

Barcelona 6-1 Paris St-Germain (last-16 second leg, 8 March 2017, 6-5 on agg)

Neymar celebrates — Image caption,

Neymar was the star of the show during ‘Le Remontada’

Arguably the greatest comeback of all, this one is so iconic that it has its very own title in France and Spain – La Remontada (The Comeback).

PSG were clinical at home, winning 4-0, but the Nou Camp sensed something special when Luis Suarez scored after just three minutes in the second leg.

Barcelona were two goals to the good at the break courtesy of a Layvin Kurzawa own goal, but still trailed by two goals on aggregate.

Lionel Messi scored a penalty soon after the restart but Edinson Cavani hit back to silence the home faithful, although it wasn’t the pendulum-swinging moment PSG hoped for.

Barcelona, now trailing 5-3, needed three goals in fewer than 30 minutes to achieve a miracle. Neymar scored a free-kick in the 88th minute to offer further hope, before the Brazilian stroked home a 91st-minute penalty to level the tie at 5-5 on aggregate.

But PSG were still heading through on away goals.

Then, with 20 seconds of added time remaining, La Remontada came to fruition when Sergi Roberto turned home Neymar’s chipped pass, with Barcelona becoming the only team in history to overturn a four-goal Champions League deficit.

Deportivo La Coruna 4-0 AC Milan (quarter-final second leg, 7 April 2004, 5-4 on agg)

Albert Luque — Image caption,

Deportivo La Coruna’s Albert Luque celebrates scoring against AC Milan

Deportivo La Coruna, currently plying their trade in the second tier of Spanish football, are no longer associated with the Champions League – but they carried out an unforgettable fightback against heavyweight opposition in 2004.

Milan travelled to Spain with a 4-1 lead from the first leg, but Deportivo were not ready to roll over.

Walter Pandiani, who broke the deadlock at the San Siro, got the Spaniards up and running on home soil.

Unlike the first leg when they sat back after taking the lead, Deportivo threw caution to the wind and it paid off as they wiped out Milan’s aggregate advantage in just 43 minutes after goals from Juan Carlos Valeron and Albert Luque.

That would have been enough for Deportivo to go through on away goals but they continued to press and Fran slotted home a fourth to confirm Carlo Ancelotti’s side were heading out.

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