Champions League’s biggest comebacks: Barcelona, Liverpool more
Sporting CP brought an abrupt end to Bodo/Glimt’s UEFA Champions League run on Tuesday by overcoming a huge deficit to knock everyone’s favorite underdogs from the Arctic Circle out of the competition in the round of 16.
Trailing 3-0 on aggregate from the first leg in Norway, it looked like Sporting were set to become Bodo/Glimt’s latest victim in a 2025-26 campaign in which they had already beaten Manchester City, Atlético Madrid and Inter Milan. However, an improbable uprising at Lisbon’s José Alvalade Stadium produced one of the greatest Champions League comebacks of all time and booked the Portuguese hosts a place in the quarter-finals.
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Sporting scored three unanswered goals in the first 78 minutes to send the second leg into extra time before adding two more goals to complete their miraculous revival, winning 5-0 on the night and 5-3 on aggregate.
Sporting thus became only the fifth club in Champions League history to qualify for a knockout match despite losing the first leg by three or more goals, meaning their feat against Bodo/Glimt now ranks alongside Barcelona and Liverpool in the pantheon of greatest knockout comebacks in the Champions League era.
After ousting Juventus in the previous round, Deportivo finally looked to have broken away against an Italian opponent in the quarter-finals when they were beaten 4-1 by Milan at San Siro in the first leg.
Rather than wallow, the Spaniards rallied at the Riazor to eliminate the reigning European champions with the competition’s first comeback from a three-goal lead since Galatasaray against Neuchâtel Xamax in the old European Cup in 1989.
With their defiant fans roaring at them, Deportivo came out of the blocks to stun Milan with a four-goal salvo that overturned the tie. They were then eliminated in the semi-final by eventual winners FC Porto.
Perhaps the most topsy-turvy back-and-forth match of all time, Barcelona suffered a disastrous 4-0 first-leg defeat at the Parc des Princes as goals from Julian Draxler, Edinson Cavani and a brace from Ángel Di María looked to put PSG in pole position to reach the knockout stages.
Desperate to overturn the deficit, Barca were at their best at the Camp Nou and quickly got back to 3-4 inside 50 minutes, only for a Cavani penalty on the hour mark to appear to disrupt their momentum.
However, the Catalans continued to fight on in a feverish atmosphere until they eventually broke PSG with a mind-boggling flurry of late goals – including two goals in three minutes from Neymar and a decisive goal in the 96th minute from Sergi Roberto – which saw them win the match 6-1 and advance to the quarters 6-5 on aggregate.
Coming back from four goals down, Barca’s resurgence against PSG is officially considered the greatest comeback in Champions League round of 16 history – a famous night that has become known simply as “La Remontada” by the club’s fans.
AS Roma 4-4 Barcelona (2017-18 quarter-final)
Helped by two unfortunate own goals, Barcelona beat Roma 4-1 at the Camp Nou in the first leg of the quarter-final, thanks to a late consolation goal for the Giallorossi courtesy of Edin Dzeko would ultimately play a crucial role in the outcome.
Sure enough, the Italian team wasted no precious time restoring balance when Dzeko scored again within the first five minutes of the second leg at the Stadio Olimpico.
A penalty from club legend Daniele De Rossi brought Roma within a goal of their opponents, then the aggregate score was leveled at 4-4 when Kostas Manolos headed in a corner in the 82nd minute to explode the roof of the stadium and send his team to the away goals. In reference to Barça’s exploits the previous year, this comeback was nicknamed the “Romantic“.
Liverpool 4-3 Barcelona (2018-19 semi-final)
After finishing second behind Real Madrid the previous season, Liverpool were desperate to go one better and win the trophy in 2018-19, but were forced to face a difficult match against Barcelona in the semi-final.
After eliminating Bayern Munich and Porto, Jürgen Klopp’s side collapsed to a 3-0 defeat at the Camp Nou in the first leg. The Reds needed something extraordinary and that’s precisely what they got at Anfield in the form of a dizzying four-goal barrage.
Divock Origi set the mood just seven minutes later, but it was only when Georgino Wijnaldum scored twice in the space of two minutes just after half-time that the home fans began to believe the mega-comeback could actually happen. Sure enough, it was Origi who appeared once more in the 80th minute when the Belgian striker stepped up to head home Trent Alexander-Arnold’s quick corner.
Sporting CP 5-3 Bodo/Glimt (round of 16 2025-26)
INCREDIBLE SCENES IN LISBON 🟢
Sporting gets its fourth goal of the evening and TAKES A LEAD against Bodø/Glimt, 4-3 in total 🤯 pic.twitter.com/pglRyl7PNr
– CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 17, 2026
It looked like Bodo/Glimt were firmly on course for the quarter-finals when the Norwegian minnows – already one of the Champions League’s big underdogs – scored three goals past Sporting in the first leg of their last-16 tie.
However, things quickly deteriorated for Kjetil Knutsen’s side in Portugal, with Sporting quickly chipping away at Bodo/Glimt’s advantage.
Gonçalo Inacio headed home 34 minutes into the game to start the comeback before second-half goals from Pedro Gonçalves and Luis Suárez (via a somewhat controversial penalty) leveled the tie on aggregate.
Maximiliano Araújo then put Sporting ahead on aggregate two minutes into extra time before Rafael Nel delivered the final blow in the 122nd minute of the match.
