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Arsenal
are undoubtedly up against the odds in Tuesday's Champions League clash with
Bayern Munich. Losing 2-0 at home to the European champions and expecting to
get anything from the return leg, never mind a two-goal victory, seems more
fantasy than reality.
The
Gunners are not the only European giant looking for salvation in unlikely
places in the last 16: Bayer Leverkusen are four goals down to Paris
Saint-Germain ahead of the return trip to Parc des Princes, AC Milan lost 1-0
at San Siro to Atletico Madrid, while Manchester City have the thankless task
of etching out a big victory at Barcelona's Camp Nou. Schalke and Zenit were
also hammered 6-1 and 4-2 at home by Real Madrid and Dortmund respectively in
their first legs.
However,
the European Cup is littered with examples of unexpected wins and unfathomable
comebacks. Goal looks at five classic turnarounds in two-legged battles on the
continent...
(5)
March 23, 2004: AC Milan 4-1 Deportivo
La Coruna
April
7, 2004: Deportivo La Coruna 4-0 AC
Milan
Since
the European Cup became the Champions League in 1992, only one side have
overturned a three-goal margin going into the second-leg of a knock-out game in
the latter stages of the competition.
(4)
September 6, 1988: Dinamo Berlin 3-0
Werder Bremen
October
11, 1988: Werder Bremen 5-0 Dinamo
Berlin
Prior
to Deportivo's heroics, the previous team to recover from a three-goal deficit
was Werder Bremen, who won a battle against East German rivals Dinamo Berlin in
a highly politicised clash in 1988.
(3)
April 2, 1986: Gothenburg 3-0 Barcelona
April
16, 1986: Barcelona 3-0 Gothenburg
Barcelona
are a club with a history of recovering from an unlikely position to progress
in the European Cup.
On
the hunt for their first ever crown, they seemed to have struck a dead end when
they came up against an excellent Gothenburg side in the spring of 1986.
(2)
October 22, 1975: Derby County 4-1 Real
Madrid
November
5, 1975: Real Madrid 5-1 Derby County
The
season of 1975-76 was a great one for comebacks, but it would be Real Madrid's
recovery against Derby County that was the greatest in terms of magnitude,
eclipsing Saint-Etienne and PSV who both overturned two-goal deficits at the
quarter-final stage.
August
26, 1958: KB 3-0 Schalke
September
17, 1958: Schalke 5-2 KB
October
1, 1958: Schalke 3-1 KB
Schalke,
in desperate need of a miracle next week against Real Madrid, were the first
team to ever overhaul a three-goal deficit in European Cup football way back in
the 1958-59 season.
Danish
side KB raced into a three-goal lead in their home leg after just 46 minutes,
but their inability to add to their tally would come back to bite them almost a
month later, when the second match was played.
Incredibly,
Schalke led that encounter 3-0, also scoring their third goal in the 46th
minute. Erling Andresen then scored a double for the guests, who were once
again seemingly through only to concede two goals in two minutes in the closing
stages.
As
this was before the away goals rule, a decisive third encounter was played in
Enschede, in which the Germans cruised to a 3-1 victory.
CULLED FROM GOAL.COM
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