Thursday 9 May 2019 07:54, UK
A day after Liverpool's stunning turnaround against Barcelona, Tottenham pulled off an incredible, last-gasp comeback of their own to join their Premier League rivals in the final of the Champions League.
A second-half Lucas Moura hat-trick - including a 96th-minute winner - fired Spurs past Ajax, after their semi-final ended 3-3, with the London club progressing on away goals.
Here, we look back at eight epic comebacks and ask whether which was the greatest…
The 2018/19 edition of the Champions League will be remembered as one of the most dramatic ever and, just 24 hours after Liverpool stunned Barcelona, Tottenham pulled off an unlikely fightback of their own to see off Ajax and add another remarkable tale to this year's competition.
Lucas Moura was the hero, completing his second-half hat-trick with a 96th-minute winner to send Spurs to their first Champions League final - but that had looked an impossible outcome at half-time.
Spurs, who lost 1-0 at home in the first leg, were three adrift on aggregate after Matthijs de Ligt and Hakim Ziyech had struck twice in the first-half. But a tactical change from boss Mauricio Pochettino, with sub Fernando Llorente causing problems up front, saw Spurs take control of the ball and their brilliant Brazilian sliced through the Ajax defence.
It was the result that everyone inside Anfield hoped for, but one which even the most ardent supporters would have been forgiven for thinking it was beyond their team. But this Liverpool side, under the tutelage of Jurgen Klopp and backed all the way by their inspirational home support, completed the most remarkable of comebacks to stun Barcelona.
Divock Origi's seventh-minute opener set Liverpool on their way before Georginio Wijnaldum's quick-fire double made the Reds dare to dream early in the second half. Origi then sealed the victory with an instinctive finish from Trent Alexander-Arnold's quickly-taken corner, the final act on a night that will live on long into the Anfield memories.
United travelled to Paris needing to overturn a deficit following the Ligue 1 champions' victory at Old Trafford, a tough assignment with a midfield three of Scott McTominay, Fred and Andreas Pereira in the absence of Paul Pogba and Alexis Sanchez.
Romelu Lukaku's first-half double either side of Juan Bernat's strike left United needing just one goal to progress and, after a dogged defensive display, they got it in a moment of high drama. Presnel Kimpembe was adjudged to have blocked Diogo Dalot's late shot with his arm after a VAR check, handing Marcus Rashford the chance to smash United into the quarter-finals with a nerveless penalty.
Barcelona have been here before, and only a year ago. After a 4-1 win in the Nou Camp, they went to Roma looking certain of a place in the semi-finals. But it all went wrong for the Catalans inside the Stadio Olimpico.
Edin Dzeko struck early to give Roma confidence and Daniele De Rossi added a second from the penalty spot just before the hour to set up a tense finish. Barcelona could not find the goal they needed and Kostas Manolas' 82nd-minute header sent them out of the competition.
Of course, they have seen the other side too. The Catalans suffered a shock 4-0 defeat to PSG in the French capital in the first leg of their round-of-16 tie - a result which was assumed to be PSG's coming-of-age moment in a competition they had been built to win.
Without an away goal, Barca were given little chance of turning things around. They began well, with Luis Suarez scoring after just three minutes, but it took until five minutes before the break for a second to follow through Layvin Kurzawa's own goal.
Lionel Messi's penalty made it 3-0 in the 50th minute but when Edinson Cavani netted for PSG just after the hour the odds seemed against Barca. Instead, a most remarkable finish followed. Neymar scored in the 88th and 91st minutes, the second from the penalty spot, before Sergi Roberto scored in the fifth minute of time added on to spark wild scenes.
The semi-final victory over Barca ranks only as Liverpool's second best Champions League comeback, because the first entry on the list - the Miracle of Istanbul - came with the trophy.
Rafa Benitez's team were dead and buried at half-time as they trailed 3-0 to AC Milan, a side filled with some of the greatest names in European football. Paulo Maldini had opened the scoring in the first minute before Hernan Crespo's double.
But everything changed in the space of six mad minutes in the second half as Steven Gerrard, Vladimir Smicer and Xabi Alonso scored before the hour mark to level the game. Liverpool took it to extra-time and penalties, when Jerzy Dudek pulled out the dance moves and Andriy Shevchenko missed the decisive spot-kick.
Milan, the defending champions and tournament favourites, thrashed Deportivo 4-1 in the first leg of their quarter-final tie and seemed set for a cruise into the last four. But Deportivo pulled off a performance for the ages in the second leg.
Walter Pandiani opened the scoring in the fifth minute, Juan Carlos Valeron got a second in the 34th minute and Albert Luque made it 3-0 a minute before the break. Milan seemed certain to respond but mustered nothing, and Depor's club captain Fran sealed the comeback in the 76th minute.
However, his spell in charge works out, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Manchester United will always have this night in Barcelona. Chasing an historic treble, Sir Alex Ferguson's side looked to have run out of steam in the Champions League final as they trailed to Mario Basler's sixth-minute goal.
Ferguson threw on Solskjaer and Teddy Sheringham as time ran down, and it paid off in some style. Sheringham levelled in the first minute of stoppage time before Solskjaer prodded in a winner two minutes later.
The Champions League final, the 27th in its current format and 64th of Europe's elite-club competition, will take place on June 1, 2019.
Kick-off is at 8pm (BST), 9pm (CEST) at the Wanda Metropolitano, Madrid.
The last act of The Run In will be shown live on Sky Sports on a defining final day of the Premier League season.
Manchester City's trip to Brighton is live on Sky Sports Main Event from 2.30pm, while Liverpool vs Wolves at Anfield is live on Sky Sports Premier League from 2pm on Sunday, May 12. Kick-off for both games is at 3pm.
