The Champions League is the pinnacle of European football, with some of the greatest players in world football vying to compete for the biggest club-level accolade. Some matches at the very top level rise above the rest and cement themselves among fans across the globe, and we’ll be loo. We’ll rank seven of the greatest Champions League matches here, including when Liverpool pulled off the ‘Miracle in Istanbul,’ Ole Gunnar Solskjær became a club legend at Manchester United and Barcelona, pulling off the unthinkable against PSG.
We’ll be taking into account the importance of the game itself, whether it was a Group Game win or the Final is the most important metric, as well as the drama, amount of goals and quality of the match itself.
# | Match | Round | Final Score | Attempts on Target | Yellow Cards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
7 | Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid | Final | 4-1 | 12 – 6 | 5 – 7 |
6 | Hamburg vs Juventus | Group Game | 4-4 | 4 – 4 | 1 – 3 |
5 | Dortmund vs Malaga | Quarter Final | 3-2 | 10 – 5 | 2 – 3 |
4 | Barcelona vs PSG | Round of 16 | 6-1 | 7 – 3 | 5 – 5 |
3 | Ajax vs Tottenham | Semi Final | 2-3 | 4 – 7 | 3 – 2 |
2 | Manchester United vs Bayern Munich | Final | 2-1 | 2 – 1 | 0 – 1 |
1 | AC Milan vs Liverpool | Final | 3-3 (Liverpool win on Pens) | 10 – 6 | 0 – 2 |
Real Madrid 4-1 Atletico Madrid, 2013/14
Last Minute Drama
After winning the La Liga title for the first time since 1996, Atletico Madrid went into the 2014 Champions League final hoping to Real Madrid and securing a historic double.
Atletico’s chances looked especially grim after eight minutes of the game when Diego Costa had to limp off after struggling to recover from a hamstring injury sustained against Barcelona the weekend before. Diego Godin’s strike would put Diego Simeone’s side ahead and they were able to hold on until the 92nd minute when Real found the equaliser.
Shattered from defending their lead, Atletico were not able to contain Real in extra time as Los Blancos scored another three to make it 4-1, with goals from Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo winning them yet another Champions League trophy.
Hamburg 4-4 Juventus, 2000
The Rollercoaster
The September 2000 Group E game between Hamburg and Juventus was a back-and-forth rollercoaster that featured several moments that made for a classic night of European football.
Igor Tudor would open up the scoring in just the sixth minute, with Yeboah scoring the equaliser in the 17th minute to set up a goal fest, with Filippo Inzaghi scoring a hat-trick (36′, 52′, 88′ (p)) and Mahdavikia, Kovač and goalkeeper Hans-Jorg Butt levelling the game from the penalty spot in the 72nd minute.
Had this game been in a latter stage of the tournament then it likely would have featured higher on this list, but as it took place in the Group Stage it does not have the drama of some of the latter entries.
Borussia Dortmund 3-2 Malaga, 2012/13
Two Goals in the Last 10 minutes
Malaga were the side that Borussia Dortmund drew in the 2012/2013 quarter-final after getting through a group with Manchester City and Real Madrid. After beating Shakhtar Donetsk in the last 16 of the competition, Malaga proved why they were able to secure a place in the quarters, keeping the score at 0-0 in the first leg and showing the German side that they wouldn’t be an easy route to the semi-final.
The second leg was a completely different affair, with Joaquin putting Malaga ahead before Robert Lewandowski managed to find the back of the net to level just before halftime. The game’s second half was end-to-end and Dortmund would go down 2-1 to Eliseu’s 82nd-minute goal.
Dortmund were right up against the wall with just eight minutes plus injury time remaining, but goals from Marco Reus and Felipe Santana would see them through to the next round.
Santana’s goal was extremely controversial as four players were offside, adding to the drama of this incredible contest, but the referee and linesman did not pick up on it and Dortmund reaped the reward of a spot in the semi-finals.
Barcelona 6-1 Paris Saint-Germain, 2016/17
The Comeback Kings
After losing the first leg 4-0 in Paris three weeks prior, Barcelona looked like their Champions League journey that season had ended, with the second leg at Camp Nou being a formality. However, it would end up being one of the most incredible comebacks in the tournament’s history.
Barca had managed to get a three-goal lead by the 50th minute of the game, with goals from Luis Suarez, Layvin Kurzawa’s scoring an own goal and Lionel Messi converting from the penalty spot. Hope diminished in the 62-minute when Edinson Cavani found the net, meaning that the Catalan side needed three more to get through to the quarter-finals.
Those goals would come, with Neymar scoring twice (88′, 90+1′) and Sergi Roberto’s winner in the 95th minute ended what was one of the most outrageous games of football in modern times and putting the Spanish side through to the next round.
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham, 2019
Another Incredible Comeback
Tottenham would manage to come from 2-0 down to get through to their first-ever Champions League Final in 2019. Ajax had defeated Spurs in the first leg 1-0 in North London and they managed to go 1-0 up in the second leg via Hakim Ziyech just 10 minutes before the half-time whistle.
Lucas Moura would restore hope for the Premier League side, scoring twice shortly after the break (55′, 59′). Ajax then appeared to be back in control, before Moura stepped up and scored the winner in the 96th minute, putting them through on away goals and a date with Liverpool in the final.
Tottenham would end up losing to Liverpool in the final, but Spurs fans prefer to remember the epic nature of how they got to the final that year rather than the final itself.
Manchester United 2-1 Bayern Munich, 1998/99
The Class of ’92 won it all
While the first 90 minutes of the Champions League final in 1999 were not overly dramatic, with Mario Basler putting Bayern Munich ahead in the sixth minute, it was in the dying moments and ‘Fergie Time’ that Sir Alex Ferguson’s side were able to make a sensational comeback to win the Champions League and cap off the Treble for the Old Trafford club.
It was two substitutes that made all of the difference in the Camp Nou that night, with Teddy Sheringham coming on in the 67th minute for Jesper Blomqvist and Solskjaer coming in the 81st minute for Andy Cole.
Sheringham would score the equaliser for United in the 91st minute, something that was so unexpected that UEFA President Lennart Johansson had already left his seat to present the European Cup trophy, which had already been decorated with Bayern ribbons.
The 93rd-minute winner from Solskjaer would complete the iconic victory and immortalise the side that featured the likes of David Beckham, Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, Jaap Stam and Dennis Irwin as treble winners.
AC Milan 3-3 Liverpool, 2004/05
The Miracle of Istanbul
The 2005 Champions League final remains one of the greatest moments in the history of Liverpool FC, but it would take a monumental turnaround from a first half that saw Paolo Maldini score from Milan’s first attack and Hernan Crespo add two more just before the break.
Liverpool had finished 37 points behind Premier League winners Chelsea that season in fifth place, meaning that they would not qualify for the Champions League the next season. With all of that weighing on captain Steven Gerrard and co, the Reds would still head out for the second half and score three goals to tie the match, with Gerrard scoring in the 54th minute, Vladimir Smicer in the 56th and Xabi Alonso equalising in the 60th minute.
It was not just those three goals that won Liverpool the game, as Jerzy Dudek’s point-blank save to deny Andriy Shevchenko, Jamie Carragher’s fight against cramp to get himself and the Reds over the line and the determination of Gerrard to get his side the European cup that led them to win on penalties and take the title back to Anfield in the greatest Champions League Final ever.
All statistics from UEFA.com and Transfermarkt. Correct as of 02.08.24.