Friday 15 April 2016 08:17, UK
Liverpool's staggering recovery to knock Borussia Dortmund out of the Europa League on Thursday night ranks alongside some of the best European comebacks. Here, we look at where it sits among other great recoveries.
Liverpool 3-3 AC Milan, 2005 Champions League final
The greatest European final of all time, the night the mighty AC Milan were brought to their knees by the likes of Djimi Traore, Milan Baros and Vladimir Smicer.
Milan, the heavy favourites, took just 50 seconds to score, Paolo Maldini firing home from a free-kick. Hernan Crespo added two more goals before the break and at half-time, Liverpool seemed on course for a humiliating defeat in the heat of Istanbul.
And then came the most incredible six minutes in football - possibly ever. Steven Gerrard rose to head home John Arne Riise's cross to make it 3-1. Moments later, Smicer let fly with a low, skimming shot that crept inside Dida's post and Milan were shaking.
Gerrard then surged into the box and won a penalty. Xabi Alonso's effort was saved, only for the Spaniard to score from the rebound. The game went to penalties, with Jerzy Dudek saving Andriy Shevchenko's decisive spot-kick to give Liverpool the most glorious of triumphs.
Manchester United 2-1 Bayern Munich, 1999 Champions League final
"Football, bloody hell..." Everyone remembers Sir Alex Ferguson's disbelieving verdict on an astonishing comeback that sealed the treble for his Manchester United side.
On a sultry night in Barcelona, Bayern landed the first blow, Mario Basler curling a free-kick past an unsighted Peter Schmeichel to give the Germans the lead.
What followed was a fairly drab final, with Bayern defending their lead and United running out of steam. In the first minute of stoppage time, United won a corner. David Beckham took it and the ball fell to Ryan Giggs, whose shot was turned in by Teddy Sheringham.
With Bayern reeling, United won another corner. Again Beckham delivered, and time seemed to stand still as the ball dropped for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, almost on the goalline, who flashed the ball past Oliver Kahn to seal the unlikeliest comeback.
Liverpool 4-3 Borussia Dortmund (5-4 agg), 2016 Europa League quarter-final
The night Jurgen Klopp's 'heavy-metal football' arrived at Anfield. Liverpool went into the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final with a narrow advantage, courtesy of Divock Origi's away goal in Germany. It would not last long.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan claimed an away goal himself six minutes in, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang doubled the lead three minutes later, shooting high past Simon Mignolet.
At half-time, Liverpool needed three goals, and they got one almost immediately as Origi ran clear to slot past Roman Weidenfeller. Dortmund hit straight back, however, as Marco Reus beat Mignolet with a composed finish to seemingly end the tie.
Liverpool, however, were having none of it. Philippe Coutinho rattled in a low shot to make it 2-3 on the night and then, incredibly, Mamadou Sakho headed in a corner for 3-3.
With Anfield having a collective anxiety attack, James Milner swung in one last, hopeful cross, and Dejan Lovren was there at the back post to head a sensational winner.
Deportivo La Coruna 4-0 AC Milan (5-4 agg), 2004 Champions League quarter-final
Reigning European champions AC Milan had seemed set fair for the semi-finals when they tore apart Deportivo 4-1 in the San Siro, but they were blown away in Spain.
Walter Pandiani kicked off the comeback on five minutes, beating Dida with a left-foot shot.
Juan Carlos Valeron quickly headed a second after a mistake by the Rossoneri goalkeeper, before Albert Luque put Depor ahead on aggregate with another fine finish.
Fran added the fourth with 15 minutes to go, and Milan were out of Europe.
Monaco 3-1 Real Madrid (5-5 agg), 2004 Champions League quarter-final
Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Ronaldo had inspired Real Madrid to a 4-2 win in the first leg of their quarter-final, with Fernando Morientes' late strike seemingly of little consequence.
Raul even gave Real the lead in the second leg, stretching the lead to 5-2 on aggregate.
However, Monaco hit back when Ludovic Giuly volleyed in low and on-loan Real striker Morientes scored with a fine header.
Giuly then levelled the tie with a backheel past Iker Casillas to send the Spaniards tumbling out of Europe on away goals.
Which other great European comebacks can you recall? Let us know on skysports.com by posting a Comment below...
