Or, shall I add in Pool's 2005 Istanbul final vs Milan?
Which is the greatest UCL comeback? Man Utd's 1999 final or Barca's 6-1?
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Liverpool's I feel. Coming back from 3-0 down against that Milan side, with a team that had Djimi Traore in it, is nothing but a miracle.
Not the one today simply because it's not a final.
26/5/99 was more dramatic, but Istanbul was a greater comeback. Liverpool turned that game on its head really despite having absolutely no right to, while we "only" scored a couple of goals totally against the run of play.
26/5/99 was more dramatic, but Istanbul was a greater comeback. Liverpool turned that game on its head really despite having absolutely no right to, while we "only" scored a couple of goals totally against the run of play.
Based on likelihood, our comeback was the best. 3 goals in 8 minutes.
Based on the difference in quality between the sides, Istanbul 2005 tops it.
Based on the difference in quality between the sides, Istanbul 2005 tops it.
Istanbul first, our comeback in 1999, and then Barca's comeback last night.
I think Barcelona's is the most incredible. Needing to score 3 late goals to move on.
I'm sure if I saw our comeback live, I'd feel different though. Was too young to witness it.
I'm sure if I saw our comeback live, I'd feel different though. Was too young to witness it.
Why not the Deportivo one?
Barcas for the goal deficit.
United in 1999 for the occasion. United had so much luck in 1999, Bayern hit the bar several times, were missing key players, Matthaus was taken off in around the 70th minute as Bayern thought it was job done.
It's hard to choose, I'd really say Barca tonight was probably a bigger challenge. Just United in 1999 it was the treble so it was something else, it meant more.
Both at the Nou Camp by the way!
United in 1999 for the occasion. United had so much luck in 1999, Bayern hit the bar several times, were missing key players, Matthaus was taken off in around the 70th minute as Bayern thought it was job done.
It's hard to choose, I'd really say Barca tonight was probably a bigger challenge. Just United in 1999 it was the treble so it was something else, it meant more.
Both at the Nou Camp by the way!
United's. Dying minutes of a CL final against a team that was better than us on the day where we rode our luck.
PSG bottled this game big time, plus Suarez dived so that sours it a bit.
Liverpool > United > Barca. Liverpool were fecking dead and buried in that first half against a team that genuinely looked a different class.
PSG bottled this game big time, plus Suarez dived so that sours it a bit.
Liverpool > United > Barca. Liverpool were fecking dead and buried in that first half against a team that genuinely looked a different class.
Barcelona's doesn't come close to Man Utd or Liverpool, simply because the other two actually won silverware from their comebacks, Barcelona didn't win anything as of yet except their pride back from losing the first leg 4-0.
A couple of others I will throw in the mix (all of these are UCL finals), Benfica's comeback win against Real Madrid in 1962, they were 0-2 down after 20minutes and 1-3 down after 40. Came back and won 5-3. In 1956 Real Madrid were 0-2 against Stade de Reims after 10 minutes and still 2-3 down at the hour mark, came back and won 4-3. The infamous 1974 final where Atletico scored in extra time in 114th minute only for Bayern to equalise in the 120th, with no penalty shootout in the competition at the time the game was replayed and Bayern won 4-0. Porto's comeback win against Bayern in 87, being 1-0 down until a 3 min double in the 77th and 80th minutes to win 1-2. In a similiar fashion Barcelona beat Arsenal in 2006 after being down 1-0 till a 4minute double in the 76th and 80th minute sealed the 1-2 win for Barcelona. Then last but not least Real Madrid's epic comeback against Atletico Madrid, equalising in the last second of regular play courtesy of a Ramos header in 2014, then going on to win 4-1 in extra time.
All great considerations imo
A couple of others I will throw in the mix (all of these are UCL finals), Benfica's comeback win against Real Madrid in 1962, they were 0-2 down after 20minutes and 1-3 down after 40. Came back and won 5-3. In 1956 Real Madrid were 0-2 against Stade de Reims after 10 minutes and still 2-3 down at the hour mark, came back and won 4-3. The infamous 1974 final where Atletico scored in extra time in 114th minute only for Bayern to equalise in the 120th, with no penalty shootout in the competition at the time the game was replayed and Bayern won 4-0. Porto's comeback win against Bayern in 87, being 1-0 down until a 3 min double in the 77th and 80th minutes to win 1-2. In a similiar fashion Barcelona beat Arsenal in 2006 after being down 1-0 till a 4minute double in the 76th and 80th minute sealed the 1-2 win for Barcelona. Then last but not least Real Madrid's epic comeback against Atletico Madrid, equalising in the last second of regular play courtesy of a Ramos header in 2014, then going on to win 4-1 in extra time.
All great considerations imo
I'd actually place Deportivo above this one. The Milan side they toppled was no joke.
Deportivo without a doubt imho.
It is Liverpool vs AC Milan. Pool had no business winning that game and it was the final. The only reason I feel it is still a discussion is because the other two options on this thread had multiple late goals in injury time which made the ending minutes more thrilling and memorable but if we consider the entire package of the occasion, the opposition and the trophy at stake then it is definitely Liverpool.
Easily Liverpool's comeback & it's not close. They had no business doing it.
99 final in my highly biased opinion.
Context matters a lot so a final should automatically be considered 'greater'. Istanbul was obviously an amazing comeback too but the way it happened wasn't as dramatic. They basically rescued the 3 goals pretty early on if I recall correctly and then won on penalties.
Context matters a lot so a final should automatically be considered 'greater'. Istanbul was obviously an amazing comeback too but the way it happened wasn't as dramatic. They basically rescued the 3 goals pretty early on if I recall correctly and then won on penalties.
United's was better than Liverpool's i reckon. Unlike Milan, Bayern actually played for the full game against us and we didn't need to cheat either (Gerrard's dive for the penalty)
Meh, was pure fluke
They got battered for the entire match but spawned three goals in 6 minutes including the all important one via a textbook Stevie starfish dive. As soon as they scored the third they went back to getting battered in the rest of normal/extra time and should have been beaten by several goals even after they pulled it back to 3-3.
The most spawny result in football and one of the most undeserved victories and yet listening to their mutant fanbase you'd think they had played like gods.
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Barca's probably the most unlikely, but ours and Liverpool's were finals, so it doesn't at all compare to those two. And obviously the fact that cheating played a huge part taints Barca's and Liverpool's. So ours wins it by a distance.
99, Liverpool, Deportivo and Monaco vs Real Madrid were all better in your opinion. I'd put Morientes top simply because it was the best script.
Suarez falling over is the football drama equivalent of Peggy Mitchell shouting in the Vic.
Suarez falling over is the football drama equivalent of Peggy Mitchell shouting in the Vic.
I think a comeback over one leg takes the cake. Barca at least had a few weeks to recollect themselves and figure out a game plan. I am biased tho
Monaco against city.
All amazing comebacks. Hard to rank them really, I'd say you could make an argument for any of them being the best.
The stakes were highest in United's game, but being 3-0 down at half time against that Milan side and even forcing extra time is highly impressive. If I was forced I'd say United purely for the fact it was in normal time and won us the treble, followed by Liverpool and then Barca. I know Liverpool had 45 minutes and Barca had 8 to find 3 goals, but if anyone's capable of that it's Barcelona. That Liverpool side had no business even being there.
The stakes were highest in United's game, but being 3-0 down at half time against that Milan side and even forcing extra time is highly impressive. If I was forced I'd say United purely for the fact it was in normal time and won us the treble, followed by Liverpool and then Barca. I know Liverpool had 45 minutes and Barca had 8 to find 3 goals, but if anyone's capable of that it's Barcelona. That Liverpool side had no business even being there.
Liverpool's was very good, this was truly unbelievable though, overturned a four goal lead and a crucial away goal, just remarkable.
99 and 08 were equal imo. Today was the best comeback in football I've ever seen over two legs. (although I do think Barca get favorable decisions in big games. At least one of those imo shouldn't have been a penalty. First and foremost when the guy slipped and Neymar made sure he does over the back of his leg.)
The thing about the Bayern final was that it was a bit of payback for the group stage matches where we were better than them but did not win.
Istanbul. Barca came back from a 4 goal deficit but Liverpool did it in a final against one of the strongest teams in CL history and a team of winners. Not to mention their own side was bang average.
This. Cleaner and more unequivocal comeback.
We claw 1 back (while the 1 winner is another story)
We lost 1-0 and at 1-0 anything can happen, it's not the greatest comeback ever, we were outplayed that night, we score 2 good corner.
I'd even put us against Juventus as the bigger comeback.
Dramatic for us considering what's at stake (The Treble) but the comeback on that match alone is just a rare occurence in football
We lost 1-0 and at 1-0 anything can happen, it's not the greatest comeback ever, we were outplayed that night, we score 2 good corner.
I'd even put us against Juventus as the bigger comeback.
Dramatic for us considering what's at stake (The Treble) but the comeback on that match alone is just a rare occurence in football
Taking off our rose-tinted glasses and even for Liverpool fans for our respective comeback wins in the final, as an objective neutral, surely Barca beating PSG 6-1 in the second leg yesterday and 6-5 on aggregate overall has to be the greatest comeback in the history of football, never mind the Champions League. To put this in perspective, there are teams who have made a comeback in a final or one-off cup/league matches like City clinching the title on the last day with 2 late goals and Arsenal coming back from 0-4 down to beat Reading 7-5 but Barca is the first team in history to overturn a 0-4 deficit. I just can't see any other teams doing this. This is just unbelievable on a whole new level, they have no away goals and even conceded a goal with just 38 mins to go which basically killed off the tie and I'm sure everyone's saying Game Over when PSG scored. Any other teams would have withered. Technically, you can say Barca had to come back "twice'. They ran to a 3-0 lead and need 1 more to level the tie, then they conceded a goal and they had to score another 3 more. I still don't know how they did it, still shocked in dis-belief. I went out to get some food and came back to see the score at 5-1, I thought I was watching a delayed stream of Bayern Munich vs Arsenal and 3 minutes later, I saw Barca score the 6th goal and I was trying to make sense of the reality. Wow just wow. I don't think we will ever witness anything like this again. The Camp Nou is a magical place. 
I'll give you that first point. My second point was agreeing with @Raees. It was a final that we had no right to win.
In terms of difficulty to do it, Barca easily. Drama, then Uniteds. Overall greatest comeback taking into account team and the team they are playing, then Liverpool in 05.
Just like oscar few years back, all are winners.
I still disagree. United vs Bayern were two teams at the top of their A game. (going by who we'd beat). It was a toe to toe match and one had won. Then the other team scores two in two minutes. Wins the final.
Of put Liverpool vs Milan in that Match in 05 is more like today.
both at half time were done . Then great come backs.
Today PSG didn't even show up. Barca are so good though you can see why every team is terrified to go to the Nou Camp
You do know you're just reinforcing the nickname of Bitters. :P
Banter aside, it's definitely the finals - this is amazing but likely to be more of a very interesting note in history compared to the two finals.
No. of dives to win penalties:
Barca 2
Pool 1
Utd 0
United win
Barca 2
Pool 1
Utd 0
United win
haha of course, I notice how you didn't dispute anything i said though :P
Not a huge fan of Barca by any means, but what they did yesterday was pretty impressive, even though there were some decisions gone their way. It not being a final counts against them though. United were down 3-0 to Tottenham, I believe, and won 5-3 (could have been Newcastle) in one match, so...
I may be in the minority, but I think Neymar's penalty was a dive also. The ball moved out for a goal kick and he moved inwards, so he effecively ran away from the trajectory of the ball to run into the player.No. of dives to win penalties:
Barca 2
Pool 1
Utd 0
United win
It has to be the finals. Other games are just... Remember that one game.
I think United wins over Liverpool because the goals were scored when not only the game but the first ever real treble was lost.
And I'm not diminishing Liverpool. At 3-0 diem I called my dad who's a Liverpool fan and when he answered the phone I just laughed and hung up.
After you won my cell rang, and rang and rang. Finally I picked up to hear Hahahahaha