The UEFA European Cup, today called the UEFA Champions League, has had some notable upsets. Today, with the league format, such upsets are not so prevalent, but the Champions League has still had some extremely surprising results in its history. These are some of the more notable upsets in Champions League history.
Few outside of Russia are familiar with Rubin Kazan. In 2009, they made their debut in the Champions League and were drawn in the same group as mighty Barcelona, the Champions League champions. Despite this, they made the trip to the Camp Nou undaunted and silenced the thousands of Barcelona supporters within just a couple of minutes as they went a goal up.
They held out for the remainder of the first half, but Barcelona equalised soon after. Rubin Kazan regained the lead later in the half. The game ended Barcelona 1 – Rubin Kazan 2, which was one of the biggest shocks in the Champions League.
Few gave Dortmund a chance in their 1997 Champions League final against Juventus. After all, Juventus were the current European champions, the Serie A champions, and many regarded them as the best team in club soccer. Dortmund, for their part, were making their debut in the Champions League final against the seemingly invincible Juve. Juventus had Zinedine Zidane, Alessandro Del Piero, Christian Vieri, and Didier Deschamps in their team.
Despite this, Dortmund would take the lead in this game, with Karl-Heinz Riedle putting them in front, and then extended their first-half lead to two. Del Piero pulled one back in the second half before Lars Ricken sealed the game with a fine third goal for Dortmund. With that, Dortmund won their first Champions League title.
Man Utd were aiming for European glory, but first needed to get out of the group stages, which included the Turkish side Fenerbache. A victory against Fenerbache would have gone some way to ensuring a top two finish.
Fenerbache visited Old Trafford at a time when Man Utd had not lost a home game in Europe, with a record run of 56 games undefeated. As the game progressed, the score remained 0-0 until Fenerbache took a one-goal lead in the second half. They held this lead to win the game 1-0 and secured a first European away win at Old Trafford.
Seldom have Celtic flourished in the Champions League (excluding the European Cup glory of 1967). The Bhoys’ shocker of a victory against mighty Barcelona in the 2012/2013 Champions League group stage was one of the greatest European nights in Celtic’s history, alongside the glory of 1967.
Victor Wanyama headed Celtic in front in the first half, and Tony Watt made it 2-0 in the second to secure the win for the Bhoys. The Catalan giants dominated possession and had the vast majority of shots (10 were off target), but Celtic hung on. Barcelona did pull a late goal back, but the match ended 2-1 to Celtic on an unforgettable night in Glasgow.
Those matches were four of the biggest shocks in the Champions League. They include Rubin Kazan’s victory at Camp Nou, Dortmund’s win in the final, Celtic’s shock win against Barca, and Fenerbahçe’s triumph at Old Trafford. So, who says the underdog can’t have its day in the Champions League? Although the Champions League isn’t renowned for giant kills like the FA Cup is, those matches showed that upsets can happen in the European Cup.
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