Liverpool's 'Unfair' Late Show at PSG, Barcelona's 'Iniestazo' at Chelsea & the Ten Greatest Heists in Champions League History
No competition on the planet delivers spectacle quite like the Champions League. With the best teams in Europe facing off, fans are often treated to a feast of world-class attacking play and goals aplenty. It's the competition that holds the most weight for the players, and as such, they tend to give that little bit extra in a bid to earn a place in the history books.
While defensive pragmatism is sometimes prioritized, more often than not, evenly-matched sides will thrash it out in thrilling end-to-end contests. But perhaps the rarest phenomenon we see in the Champions League is 'the heist' - those games when one team dominates proceedings from the first minute to the last, only to suffer defeat against an opponent that was barely able to get out of their own half.
In the most special cases, stubborn, courageous, and - most importantly - lucky clubs have managed to grind out the most unlikely victories while recording just one shot on target. With that in mind, here's a look at the 10 greatest Champions League heists of all time.
Ajax 0-1 AC Milan (2003-04)
AC Milan, fresh off their sixth European Cup triumph in 2002-03, started their title defense in shaky fashion, collecting only seven points from their opening four group games. Their matchday five clash with Ajax became a must-win to secure progression.
Despite fielding a makeshift XI due to an injury crisis, Ronald Koeman's Ajax gave the Rossoneri an almighty scare. The Dutch side created several good openings, including a close-range header for Nigel de Jong that he agonizingly turned over the crossbar.
Milan waited patiently for their moment, which came six minutes into the second half when Andriy Shevchenko volleyed home the winning goal from six yards out. As John Heitinga lamented after the final whistle: "We have only ourselves to blame - one move and they score."
Chelsea 1-1 Barcelona (2008-09)
Barcelona were deserving European champions in 2008-09, but few would deny they were given a major helping hand in the semi-finals by Danish referee Tom Henning Ovrebo. Chelsea were denied four penalties by Ovrebo in the second leg at Stamford Bridge after taking an early lead through Michael Essien.
Barca finally mustered their first shot on target in the 93rd minute, and it was a corker. Andres Iniesta's sublime first-time shot with the outside of his boot rocketed past helpless Chelsea goalkeeper Hilario, sparking delirium for Pep Guardiola's team, who advanced to the final on away goals.
Didier Drogba famously roared "It's a f*cking disgrace!" into the TV cameras at full-time and had to be restrained as tempers boiled over. But the Barcelona bench cared little as the moment was christened 'El Iniestazo' by Culers across Catalunya - a testament to the wealth of genius-level talent in their squad, which ensured they were never out of any game.
Marseille 0-1 Spartak Moscow (2010-11)
On the opening night of the 2010-11 Champions League, Spartak Moscow pulled off a remarkable feat: winning a game without having a single shot on target. Marseille laid siege to the Spartak goal, raining down a total of 27 shots as the likes of Mathieu Valbuena and Andre Ayew flexed their impressive attacking muscles.
Goalkeeper Andriy Dykan was the hero for Spartak with seven saves, while fortune smiled on the visitors when Andre-Pierre Gignac struck the post in stoppage time. Incredibly, Spartak left Stade Velodrome with all three points courtesy of an 81st-minute own goal from Cesar Azpilicueta.
"It's the worst scenario. We played Russian roulette and we lost," crestfallen Marseille boss Didier Deschamps admitted to the media.
Inter 0-1 Trabzonspor (2011-12)
Inter regularly upset the odds on their way to Champions League glory in 2009-10, but were on the receiving end of a major shock when they faced Turkish outfit Trabzonspor in their group-stage opener two seasons later. It was a predictably one-sided affair, with Giampaolo Pazzini, Mauro Zarate, and Wesley Sneijder all guilty of spurning several gilt-edged chances.
It was something of a miracle that the visitors were still on level terms heading into the final 15 minutes. They then conjured up a sucker punch to stun the capacity San Siro crowd when Ondrej Celustka steered the ball into the net after Inter failed to clear a corner.
As Trabzonspor boss Senol Gunes shrewdly observed after the match: "It's not enough just to have great players like Cambiasso, Pazzini and Sneijder, anything can happen on the pitch."
Chelsea 1-0 Barcelona (2011-12)
Chelsea's crop of 2011-12 are widely considered to be the worst Champions League winners in history. They were not short on team spirit, though, with Roberto Di Matteo galvanizing the confidence-stricken Blues as caretaker manager after Andre Villas-Boas' sacking in March.
No one gave Chelsea a prayer against a Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona in the semi-finals, and the gulf in quality between the two teams was evident in the first leg at Stamford Bridge. Barca enjoyed 72 percent of the possession while registering 24 shots to Chelsea's four.
Amazingly, Chelsea were able to hold firm and take a lead back to Camp Nou. Didier Drogba clinched a 1-0 victory when he swept a low Ramires cross into the far corner in first-half stoppage time, capping a brilliant counter-attack that began with Messi being dispossessed.
Fortune smiled on Di Matteo's side again in the second leg as they battled to a 2-2 draw despite playing more than two-thirds of the game with 10 men after John Terry's red card.
Lille 0-1 Bayern Munich (2012-13)
Jupp Heynckes' treble-winning Bayern team were almost flawless in the Champions League knockout phase, but they took a while to get going. After losing 3-1 to unfancied BATE Borisov in the group stage, they faced a must-win game against Lille at Stade Pierre Mauroy.
A Thomas Muller penalty gave Bayern the perfect start, but the floodgates did not open. Lille actually moved into the ascendency, with Nolan Roux and Tulio De Melo both coming close to leveling the scoreline. Substitute Ryan Mendes was presented with a glorious opportunity in the box late on, but Bayern managed to get bodies in front of his shot.
The German giants held on for the points, but Heynckes slammed his "mediocre" team after the game and credited Lille for their fearless approach. The tough love ultimately served as the wake-up call that sparked Bayern's remarkable run to the title.
Benfica 1-0 Borussia Dortmund (2016-17)
Dortmund were the top scorers in the 2016-17 Champions League group stage but could find no way past Benfica goalkeeper Ederson in the first leg of their last-16 tie at Estadio Da Luz. The Brazilian star, who has since gone on to win the competition with Manchester City, made a string of key saves, including to keep out a penalty from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Against the run of play, Kostas Mitroglou prodded Benfica in front with their only shot on target three minutes into the second half after a goalmouth scramble, and Thomas Tuchel's side couldn't find a way back.
Most of the blame was laid at Aubameyang's door, with Tuchel doing little to shield the striker: "Aubameyang is not fully fit after the African Cup of Nations and his body language did not suggest that he would do better after missing the penalty." The striker redeemed himself in the second leg, scoring a hat-trick in a 4-0 rout that proved Benfica just got very lucky in Lisbon.
Ajax 0-1 Benfica (2021-22)
After an entertaining 2-2 draw in the first leg of their last-16 encounter, it was all Ajax in the second leg as Erik ten Hag's men took ownership of the ball and fired in 16 shots, four times more than Benfica.
Ajax's best chances fell to Antony, who hit the bar and came inches from scoring with a towering header. The Portuguese giants won a rare free-kick on the far side of the box in the 76th minute, and Alejandro Grimaldo whipped it into the mixer with real venom for Darwin Nunez to rise above the flapping Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana and glance the ball home.
Benfica would wrap up the 1-0 victory courtesy of their only effort on target, leaving Ajax captain Dusan Tadic furious: "We were the better team today. Benfica did nothing, except for one free-kick. We wanted to dominate, and we did, but then in one moment... Unbelievable."
Liverpool 0-1 Real Madrid (2021-22)
The majority of Real Madrid's 16 Champions League triumphs have been fully deserved, but their 2021-22 final win over Liverpool was little more than a smash-and-grab. Carlo Ancelotti's troops mustered only three shots to Liverpool's 23, with just one of those hitting the target: Vinicius Jr's 59th-minute winning goal.
Even the decisive moment had an element of fortune, as Fede Valverde's cross for Vinicius looked suspiciously like a mis-hit shot, which just so happened to find the Brazilian to tap in from close range.
Liverpool would have won the trophy had they shown any kind of ruthlessness in the final third. Instead, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah wasted the Reds' best openings, while Thibaut Courtois produced a Player-of-the-Match display in the Real net on an ugly night marred by crowd issues outside the Stade de France.
PSG 0-1 Liverpool (2024-25)
"Football can be unfair at times." Luis Enrique summed up the mood of Paris Saint-Germain supporters across France when assessing his team's extraordinary 1-0 defeat to Liverpool on March 5. The Spaniard also claimed PSG were 'far superior' to their English opponents in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
PSG's final tally of 27 shots was the second-most of any team that has failed to score and lost in the Champions League since 2003-04. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembele shared 13 between them as they terrorized the Liverpool backline, particularly in the first half, and had it not been for Alisson Becker's presence between the sticks, Arne Slot's side could have lost by a record scoreline.
Alisson was forced to make nine saves, including a superhuman reaction stop to palm away a deflected Kvaratskhelia shot at his near post. A 0-0 draw would have been embarrassing enough for PSG considering their dominance, but Liverpool snatched the win just three minutes from time as substitute Harvey Elliot placed a first-time shot past Gianluigi Donnarumma after being teed up by Darwin Nunez on the counter.
That was Liverpool's only shot on target as they pulled off a robbery for the ages, which even Slot acknowledged: "We are the lucky ones tonight, that's clear for everyone. They were the much better team."
