Following the historic second leg in the last 16 of the Champions League in which Barcelona recovered from a 4-0 first leg defeat to win 6-5 on aggregate, we take a look at some of the greatest comebacks in sporting history
5) The Miracle in Medhina:
Going into the final day of the 2012 Ryder Cup held in Medhina, Illinois the USA led Europe by a score of 10-6. USA looked comfortbale to take the cup and were expected to further their lead with the singles events taking place on the last day in which they were heavily favoured. Ian Poulter’s two shot win over Webb Simpson and Justin Rose’s one shot win over Phil Mickelson made for an exciting and unexpected finish. Martin Kaymer’s win and a bogie from Tiger Woods ensured the win for Europe by a score of 14 ½ to 13 ½.
4) 1972 10,000m final:
Arguably one of the greatest long distance athletes and Olympians of all time Lasse Viren made his mark on the world of sport in the 1972 Olympics. It was the 23-year-old’s Olympic debut at the Munich Games which looked to be a disaster as he was tripped up just over halfway through the race and seemingly out of contention. Viren miraculously recovered reeling in the field to not only win Olympic gold but also run a world record of 28 minutes 34 seconds
3) The Black Ball Final:
The World Snooker Championship Final of 1985 between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis is highly regarded as the greatest match in snooker and greatest comeback in sporting history. Having lost the first seven frames, it looked as though Taylor would be leaving the crucible theatre with his tail between his legs. Davis made his first important mistake of the final in the eighth frame who was the opportunity that Taylor needed to allow himself back into the match. The championship came down to the final ball in the final frame in which Taylor eventually won in front of a record television audience of 17 million.
2) Superbowl LI:
Undoubtedly the greatest comeback this decade is this year’s Superbowl. A game which fans around the world were turning off and going to bed at half time and others were seeing it out for the formality turned out to be a gargantuan night in American sporting history. The New England Patriots trailed the Atlanta Falcons 28-3 in the third quarter. The comeback led by future Hall-of-Famer Tom Brady saw the Pats force the game into overtime with James White winning scoring a late touchdown.
1) Istanbul:
The Turkish city will forever be synonymous with this European final. The 2005 Champions League Final between Liverpool and AC Milan saw Milan take a half time lead of three goals. An early goal by Maldini and two just before the break by Crespo all but put the game to bed for the Italian side. Liverpool came out in the second half with a nothing to lose attitude scoring three goals in sixteen minutes. Gerard, Alonso and Smicer all finding the net. With the match drawn after 90 minutes and again after 120 Liverpool became eventual winners winning 3-2 on penalties capping off the greatest comeback in sporting history.
Liam Ashton