The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League campaign has reached its quarter-final stage, and anticipation has reached a fever pitch as to who will progress to the final four. Munich’s Allianz Arena is beginning to loom large on the horizon for the last eight teams remaining in the competition, and some mouthwatering ties are lying ahead.
The clash of the round is without question Arsenal vs Real Madrid. The Gunners have just managed a resounding 7-1 victory against PSV Eindhoven, but online oddsmakers think that the record champions represent an altogether different task.
Bodog’s recent tweet showed they’re as excited about the situation as most of the fans:
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Soccer odds providers have the reigning champion Los Blancos down as a heavy favorite to progress, but the Gunners will be hoping that they can roll back the years to 2006 when Thierry Henry managed to down the Galacticos despite being huge outsiders. The latest soccer odds price Real as not just a -140 shot to reach the semifinals, but also a +350 contender to win the tournament outright, a stark contrast to Arsenal’s +700.
Over the years, the quarter-finals have been the stage for some remarkable comebacks that have taken the continent by storm. Here are three of the biggest of them.
2004’s Wild Ride
The 2003/04 edition of the tournament saw a huge revamp similar to the one we have seen this season. Previously, the competition had not one but two group stages before finally reaching the quarterfinals. 21 years ago, the second group stage was done away with, replaced with a single round of 16 knockout rounds.
The results were wild. Heavyweights such as Manchester United and Juventus were knocked out early, and more shocks came in the quarter-finals as not one but two awe-inspiring comebacks took center stage.
The first of them came between record champions Real Madrid on the hunt for La Decima and underdogs AS Monaco. The contest looked to be going according to plan when the Spaniards won the first leg 4-2 in the Bernabeu, before taking a 36th-minute lead in the reverse fixture and leaving the principality outfit needing three goals to progress.
But then the comeback happened. A brace from winger Ludovic Giuly coupled with Fernando Morientes’ goal were enough to hand Monaco an away goals victory. And to make matters worse, Morientes was on loan at Monaco, from Real.
One night later, reigning champions AC Milan headed to Spain to face Deportivo La Coruna leading their quarterfinal 4-1 after the first leg. The unheralded Spanish outfit would stage a comeback for the ages though. By half-time, they were already ahead on away goals thanks to strikes from Walter Pandiani, Juan Carlos Valeron, and Albert Luque. In the 76th minute, midfielder Fran would give them a 5-4 aggregate lead and the shellshocked Rossoneri exited the competition.
Mourinho Rallies the Troops
Back in 2013, Jose Mourinho returned to Chelsea in a bid to prove that he was still the Special One after his sacking at Real Madrid. His first campaign back at the Bridge was somewhat of a rebuilding one, and it looked as though his side were to bow out of the Champions League at the quarter-finals stage following a 3-1 first leg defeat to the freshly taken over Paris Saint-Germain.
Goals from Argentinians Ezequiel Lavezzi and Javier Pastore either side of David Luiz’s own goal looked to put the French side into the semifinals, but Eden Hazard’s penalty ensured that the Blues had a crucial away goal to cling to ahead of the return fixture. And, ultimately, it would prove to be decisive.
In the return fixture, Andre Schurrle gave the Blues a way back into the tie when he bagged on the half-hour mark, reducing the deficit to just one. Thanks to Hazard’s goal in the Parc Des Princes, Mourinho’s men knew that just one goal would be enough to progress, but it didn’t look like it would come. When all hope seemed lost, Demba Ba popped up with an 87th-minute winner to spark scenes of jubilation at the Bridge, sending his side to the semifinals for the second time in three seasons.
Roma Rise From Their Ruins
In 2018, Barcelona were at the start of a new era. Superstar Neymar had recently departed for Paris Saint-Germain, breaking up the once-feared MSN strike force alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. The €222m the club received for the Brazilian was reinvested in the likes of Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho, but neither of them managed to hit the ground running in their moves to the Camp Nou.
Even so, Barcelona were huge favorites to progress from the quarterfinal against AS Roma. And those predictions seemed even more accurate when the Blaugrana ran out 4-1 victors in the first leg on home turf. However, things immediately fell apart on the return leg in the Eternal City.
Edin Dzeko gave the Romans the lead in the sixth minute of the second leg before captain Daniele De Rossi reduced the aggregate deficit to just one with a 58th-minute penalty. Then, with time ticking away late on, defender Kostas Manolas nodded home from a corner in the 82nd minute to give his side a stunning lead on away goals. It was a lead they wouldn’t surrender, and Roma progressed to the final four for the first time against all odds. Barcelona never truly recovered.
De kwartfinales van de UEFA Champions League staan bekend om het spektakel en de verrassingen die kunnen plaatsvinden. Een van de meest opwindende aspecten van deze fase van het toernooi zijn de grote comebacks die teams soms weten te maken. In de loop der jaren hebben we enkele memorabele momenten gezien waarbij een team vanuit een schijnbaar hopeloze positie terugkwam om alsnog door te gaan naar de halve finales.
Een van de grootste comebacks in de kwartfinales van de Champions League vond plaats in het seizoen 2018/2019, toen Liverpool het opnam tegen FC Barcelona. Na een 3-0 nederlaag in de heenwedstrijd leek het bijna onmogelijk voor Liverpool om nog door te gaan. Maar in een ongelooflijke wedstrijd op Anfield wist Liverpool met 4-0 te winnen en zich zo alsnog te plaatsen voor de halve finales. De passie en veerkracht die het team toonde in die wedstrijd zullen voor altijd herinnerd worden als een van de grootste comebacks in de geschiedenis van de Champions League.
Een andere legendarische comeback vond plaats in het seizoen 2016/2017, toen AS Monaco het opnam tegen Manchester City. Na een 5-3 nederlaag in de heenwedstrijd leek het erop dat Monaco geen kans meer had om door te gaan. Maar in de returnwedstrijd wist Monaco met 3-1 te winnen en zich zo alsnog te kwalificeren voor de halve finales. Het was een indrukwekkende prestatie van Monaco, die liet zien dat in het voetbal alles mogelijk is.
Naast deze twee voorbeelden zijn er nog tal van andere grote comebacks die hebben plaatsgevonden in de kwartfinales van de Champions League. Het is juist deze onvoorspelbaarheid en spanning die het toernooi zo aantrekkelijk maken voor voetbalfans over de hele wereld. Het laat zien dat zelfs wanneer een team op achterstand staat, ze altijd nog kunnen terugkomen en geschiedenis kunnen schrijven.
De kwartfinales van de Champions League blijven dus een bron van opwinding en verrassing, met grote comebacks die ons keer op keer verbazen. Het is deze onvoorspelbaarheid die het toernooi zo speciaal maakt en ervoor zorgt dat fans elk jaar weer uitkijken naar wat er komen gaat.
