Can Pep Guardiola emulate Manchester United, Tottenham to inspire famous Champions League comeback at Real Madrid?
Published 17/02/2025 at 17:11 GMT
Manchester City face an uphill task in their bid to reach the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League. Pep Guardiola's side suffered a late 3-2 home defeat to Real Madrid in the first leg and need a famous win to keep themselves alive in the competition. Guardiola can take inspiration from two Premier League clubs who have defied the odds to overturn first-leg deficits in the past.
Highlights: Bellingham and Real snatch late victory over City in Etihad thriller
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Can Manchester City produce one of the most famous comebacks in UEFA Champions League history?
That is the question on everyone's lips as Pep Guardiola's side travel to the Bernabeu to face reigning champions Real Madrid in the second leg of their play-off tie on Wednesday - live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
City face a tough task after letting a 2-1 lead slip in the dying stages of the first leg to suffer a dramatic 3-2 defeat at the Etihad Stadium after Jude Bellingham's last-gasp winner.
Given the circumstances, Guardiola says that his team only have a "1% chance" of reaching the last 16 of the competition, but is that a fair assessment?
How many teams in Champions League history have managed to overturn a home defeat to achieve the unthinkable and progress into the next round?
How many clubs have managed to go to the Bernabeu and win a second-leg knockout game?
With help from our friends at Opta, we take a look at how City can take inspiration from Premier League clubs who have managed to overcome the odds in the Champions League.
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Man Utd stun PSG with last-minute penalty (2018/19)
The 2018/19 Champions League season will go down as one of the greatest campaigns in the competition's history.
It was a season full of unforgettable moments, and who could forget the last-16 tie between Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain?
The Red Devils were bouncing into the first leg at Old Trafford with interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the wheel and enjoying a sensational start to life back in Manchester.
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However, United's momentum was halted as former Red Devils winger Angel Di Maria played the villain on his return to the club, by providing two assists for Pascal Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe as PSG took a 2-0 lead heading into the second leg.
With a number of first-team regulars unavailable due to injury or suspension, Solskjaer's men needed something special to advance to the quarter-finals.
United got off to a superb start with Romelu Lukaku scoring inside two minutes. Juan Bernat levelled for PSG on the night 10 minutes later, which meant United needed to score twice more to go through on the away-goals rule.
Lukaku grabbed his second of the evening after 30 minutes to give the visitors added hope and the scores remained the same until the 90th minute when United were awarded a penalty after Diogo Dalot's shot hit Kimpembe's arm in the penalty area.
Marcus Rashford stepped up to smash the ball past Gianluigi Buffon to send the United supporters wild and complete one of the most unlikely comebacks in the competition's history.
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Flashback: Rashford penalty completes miraculous Man Utd comeback at PSG
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Moura hat-trick sends Spurs to Champions League final (2018/19)
Tottenham Hotspur found themselves two games away from history as they geared up to face Ajax in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
It had already been a memorable campaign for the north London club as they advanced through the group stage on the final matchday before defeating Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City in an epic to reach the final four.
However, they were facing an Ajax full of rising stars and oozing with confidence and that was on full display in the first leg at the newly opened Tottenham Hotspur Stadium when Donny van de Beek (remember him!) scored the only goal as the Dutch giants secured a crucial 1-0 win.
The tie looked dead and buried for Spurs when Matthijs de Ligt and Hakim Ziyech (remember them!) put Ajax 3-0 up on aggregate in the first half of the second leg.
However, what happened next will go down as one of the finest halves in the club's history.
With Harry Kane missing through injury, Lucas Moura was the unlikely hero for Spurs as his second-half hat-trick - which included a 96th-minute winner - sent the Premier League club into their first Champions League final.
Other memorable comebacks
Manchester United and Tottenham are the only English teams in the Champions League era to recover from first-leg home defeats to reach the next round - only three other clubs have achieved the feat.
Ajax are the only club to complete the turnaround on two occasions. The first came in 1996 when they recovered from a 1-0 loss to Panathinaikos at home to win 3-0 in the second leg to reach the final.
The second comeback came from that unforgettable 2018/19 campaign when they faced the daunting task of travelling to the Bernabeu against Real Madrid, looking to overturn a 2-1 deficit.
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However, Erik ten Hag (remember him!) and his troops stormed the Spanish capital to secure a stunning 4-1 victory on the night thanks to goals from Ziyech, David Neres, Dusan Tadic and Lasse Schone.
The latest club to add their name to the competition's history books was PSG.
The Parisians have suffered a number of heartbreaking defeats in the Champions League knockout stages but last season it was their turn to have the last laugh.
Barcelona went into the second leg of their quarter-final clash with a 3-2 lead after a fine display at the Parc des Princes, and the Catalans scored first on the night through Raphinha.
However, Ronald Araujo's red card changed the game and PSG produced a stirring comeback to advance to the semi-finals thanks to Ousmane Dembele, Vitinha and a Mbappe double late on.
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Highlights: PSG come from behind to stun Barca after Mbappe double
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Are Madrid unbeatable in second legs at the Bernabeu?
Real Madrid's pedigree in European football suggests that there will only be one winner on Wednesday.
Following their dramatic win at the Etihad, the Spanish giants have now won the first leg of a European knockout stage tie away from home for the 40th time in their history.
They have progressed to the next round on 37 of the previous 39 occasions, with Ajax and Danish side Odense Boldklub (1994/95 UEFA Cup) being the only two clubs to stop them.
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Flashback: Ten Hag's Ajax dump Madrid out with famous win at Bernabeu
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However, this does not mean that Madrid are unbeaten at home in second-leg knockout matches.
AS Roma were the first team in the Champions League era to secure a win at the Bernabeu in the second leg to knock out Madrid in the last 16 of the 2007/08 campaign.
Schalke, Juventus and Chelsea have all beaten Madrid on the night in second legs but unfortunately for them, they were unable to progress on aggregate.
Guardiola will be hopeful his side can avoid the hurt of winning on the night at the Bernabeu but still being eliminated at the same time.
What is Guardiola's record when trailing in the first leg?
It should come as little surprise that Guardiola is not optimistic about his side's chances of reaching the next round.
Not only is it historically difficult to knock Madrid out at the Bernabeu, but Guardiola's record after suffering a first-leg defeat does not bode too well for City.
Guardiola teams have trailed nine times in the first leg in the competition and have only managed to overturn the deficit on two occasions.
The first came during his spell at Barcelona during the 2010/11 season, on his way to winning the competition for the second time in his career.
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Barca suffered a 2-1 defeat in the first leg at Arsenal but managed to turn things around at the Camp Nou thanks to a Lionel Messi brace, and a controversial red card for Gunners skipper Robin van Persie.
The second time was more routine and ruthless as Guardiola's Bayern Munich side overturned a 3-1 first-leg loss at Porto to secure a stunning 6-1 win to go through.
However, it has been heartbreak for the great manager since then. He has been eliminated on four consecutive occasions when his team has trailed in the first leg - twice with Bayern and twice with Manchester City.
Will Guardiola endure disappointment for the fifth time on the bounce, or can his team enter their name into the history books with a result for the ages?
How to watch Real Madrid v Man City?
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Real Madrid host Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, February 19.
Kick-off is at 20:00 UK time on TNT Sports 1, with live coverage beginning at 19:00.
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