10: Borussia Dortmund 4-1 Real Madrid
Semi-Final 24/04/2013
2nd Leg
This is the famous game where Robert Lewandowski let the world know how good he really is, the Polish international scored all four as Dortmund dumped Ronaldo’s Real out of the Champions League and won a place at Wembley in the final. The German giants opened the scoring early on through a Lewandowski volley, however were later caught on the counter attack which ended in a cool finish from Cristiano Ronaldo. Dortmund regained their lead at the start of the second half in controversial fashion as many of the Real players felt that Lewandowski was offside during the build up, ten minutes later Jurgen Klopps’ men doubled their lead thanks to a brilliant bit of individual skill and a world class finish from their number 9.
The game was sealed as the striker converted from the spot for his fourth of the game following Xabi Alonso’s foul on Marco Reus. Madrid failed to get a consolation goal back following some superb goalkeeping from Roman Weidenfeller, at full time a jubilant Jurgen Klopp paraded around in front of the Dortmund faithful and BVB booked themselves a place against their fiercest rivals Bayern Munich in the final.
9: Chelsea 1-1 Barcelona
Semi-Final 06/05/2009
2nd leg
One of the most famous games in Champions League history, the notorious “it’s a f*****g disgrace” game, after five horrendous penalty decisions Dider Drogba let the audience know his thoughts. Chelsea broke the deadlock through an unbelievable Michael Essien volley that ricocheted off the underside of Valdes’ crossbar, two huge penalty shouts followed after both Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba went down under challenges inside the box. After a dominant first half from Chelsea they ended the first half a goal to the good which would have sent them to the final.
Another penalty shout after a heavy challenge from Yaya Toure on Drogba, followed by a very controversial challenge which saw referee Tom Øvrebø send off Eric Abidal, with just ten minutes to go of normal time, Chelsea were denied another penalty when Gerard Pique blocked the ball with his arm. However Guus Hiddink’s side were left with their head in their hands after Lionel Messi played the ball off to Andres Iniesta on the edge of the box who finished beautifully into the top corner with the outside of his foot, the spaniard ripped his top off and celebrated in front of the travelling Barca fans, sending Pep Guardiola sprinting down the Stamford Bridge touchline.
In added time Chelsea were fighting for a winner and had a corner in the second minute of extra time, the ball fell to Michael Ballack who hit a volley that struck the outstretched arm of future Chelsea forward Samuel Eto’o. The German midfielder proceeded to scream in front of the referee, the protests continued into the night as Drogba had to be restrained by teammates and his manager before shouting his thoughts into the camera. Barcelona were through to the final to face Manchester United, despite protests from players and fans and it remains one of the most controversial games of all time.
8: Manchester City 4-3 Tottenham
Quarter-Final 17/04/2019
2nd Leg
Possibly the most exhilarating start to a Champions League match ever, Raheem Sterling opened the scoring early on with a fantastic curling shot from the edge of the box, minutes later a mistake from Aymeric Laporte allowed Heung Min-Son to take full advantage, drilling a low shot past Ederson. Just moments later Spurs shockingly took the lead, Heung Min-Son curling a delightful shot into the back of the City net, the madness then continued with Guardiola’s side equalising through Bernardo Silva’s deflected shot, it deceived Hugo Lloris and the game was all square once again.
Four goals in the opening ten minutes, everyone at the Etihad was stunned. Sterling put the Premier League champions back in front as he got on the end of a Kevin De Bruyne cross and tucked in from close range, minutes before half time, Son nearly got his hat-trick after flashing a shot across goal and just wide of Edersons’ far post. The second half was just as entertaining, with City continuing to pepper Hugo Lloris’ goal with the Frenchman making a smart save down to his right from a strong De Bruyne shot. On the hour mark, City’s Belgian playmaker ran through the Spurs midfield playing a great pass for Sergio Aguero to bury and put City two ahead and one ahead on aggregate.
But with fifteen minutes to play, substitute Fernando Llorente bundled in from a corner, what followed was one of the longest VAR checks
anyone had seen at the time, referee Cüneyt Çakir was forced to check the sideline monitor and after many minutes of deliberation the officials decided that the ball did not strike his arm and Tottenham regained advantage of the quarter-final. The game wasn’t done there, Spurs failed to clear the ball in the 92nd minute and Aguero managed to cut the ball back to Sterling who put it away and wheeled away in
celebration, sending Guardiola bouncing down the touchline the controversy continued as the goal went to another VAR check, and the goal was disallowed for an offside against Aguero, the full time whilst blew shortly after and Spurs went through to the semi-final for the first time in their history.
7: Manchester United 4-3 Real Madrid
Quarter-Final 23/04/2003
2nd Leg
Two of the biggest footballing sides of the previous decade traded went toe to toe in an incredible semi-final at Old Trafford, thanks to a David Beckham brace United were able to see off Del Bosque’s Real. An intense opening few minutes saw United start to press high to deal with Madrid constant control of the ball however the Reds’ were breached early on as a wonderful ball from Guti sent Ronaldo Nazario through, who hammered it past Fabian Barthez first time, scoring his first of three on the night.
United came back strong testing Iker Casillas on multiple occasions however they did hit back minutes before the end of the half a lofted ball over the top dropped straight to Roberto Carlos who failed to clear, lending the ball to Ole Gunnar Solksjaer who sent it across goal for a tap in for Ruud Van Nistlerooy, United were still down by two but hope was rekindled at the turn of the half.
The Spanish side started the second half sloppy, giving the ball away twice ,on the edge of the box, in the opening exchanges, however after a smart piece of play Real were able to extend their advantage both on the night and on aggregate as a well worked move saw Roberto Carlos slipping in Brazilian team mates Ronaldo who slotted home for his second of the night. United wouldn’t lie down however and were in need of four more goals, one came shortly after going behind, another good move from the home side led to Veron sending a cross into the box and rebounding off Helguera who was unable to sort his feet out, Manchester United were not giving up.
Ole Gunnar Solksjaer continued to make a nuisance of himself as the Norwegian was firing shots at Casillas, a sweet volley from Veron was also saved by the Spaniard, Alex Fergusons’ side continuing to put the pressure on. As United started to run out of time, their dream of progressing took a major blow as Ronaldo picked the ball up inside the United half strode forward, unchallenged, and buried one in the back of Barthezs’ net from 25 yards out, completing his hat trick and celebrating with the travelling away fans.
Substitute David Beckham got what looked to be a consolation goal back for the reds as Ruud Van Nistelrooy won a foul on the edge of the box and Beckham curled it in the corner with his right foot, late in the game a quick counter attack from United was scrappily turned in at the far post by Beckham putting them in front on the night, however left them still needing two goals with little time remaining. That was the way it finished however, as Real Madrid progressed through to the semis after an incredible encounter, Ronaldo the star man for Real and Sir Alex and Manchester United were left frustrated and disappointed.
6: Manchester City 5-3 Monaco
Round of 16 21/02/2017
1st leg
One of the highest scoring ties in recent years, Monaco came to the Etihad on good form with a team including the likes of Mbappe, Fabinho and Bernardo Silva, however new manager Guardiola was determined to progress to the quarters. After a tight opening 25 minutes, City struck first with Leroy Sane squaring the ball for Raheem Sterling to tap in from close range putting the sky blues within touching distance of their opponents, on aggregate.
Manchester City would go on to learn a lot about Fabinho however he provided a brilliant assist for Monaco’s first goal of the night, a mesmerising cross from the Brazilian beautifully met the head of Radamel Falcao who buried the diving header past Willy Caballero and put the sides level.
Minutes after Sergio Aguero went down under the challenge of Danijel Subasic however the Argentine was booked for simulation much to the frustration of the City players and managers.
Just four minutes later, Kylian Mbappe broke free of the City defence and smashed a powerful half-volley past Caballero putting the French side in front. Monaco started the second half strong with Benjamin Mendy sending a ball into Falcao who went down under the challenge of Nicolas Otamendi, the referee pointed to the spot and booked the City defender despite protests from his team mates. Radamal Falcao stepped up and had his penalty saved with Caballero, diving down to his left. Less than a few minutes later Sergio Aguero was slipped through but put a tame shot at Subasic that was spilled by the Croatian and rolled in, City level on the night.
Their lead didn’t last long as Monaco’s Colombian International shrugged off John Stones brilliantly and sent a delicious dink over the head of Willy Caballero and wheeled away in celebration. With twenty minutes to go and the Citizens chasing the game they needed something desperately, David Silva whipped in a corner that found the right foot of Aguero who hammered in the volley, City dragging themselves back again. Just seven minutes later City had another corner on the opposite side, the ball was flicked on by Yaya Toure and snuck in at the back post by John Stones who immediately made up for his early mistake and City led for the first time on the night. City put themselves further in front as Silva dinked a ball through to Aguero who found Sane, and the German couldn’t miss. It was the last chance of the 90 minutes on a crazy night at the Etihad, City would go to France with a big lead and it was all smiles from Pep and his players at full time.
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