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The Quarterfinal draw for the UEFA Champions League has been revealed with the rematch of last year's final being the most eye-catching. Except for that upcoming clash between Juventus and Real Madrid, all ties seem to have a clear favourite.
Roma and Sevilla will start as heavy underdogs against Barcelona and Bayern Munich respectively while Liverpool will hope to rely on their European pedigree to offer a credible challenge to a Manchester City side who are 21 points ahead of them in the domestic league.
So can any of these underdogs provide an upset?? There have been quite a few instances of favourites biting the dust in the quarterfinals of the Champions League/European Cup. Take a look at the five most memorable upsets in the history of the Champions League quarter-finals.
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#5 Schalke 04 7-3 Internazionale: 2010-11
Ruhr valley club Schalke 04 is one of the most successful teams in Germany, having won seven Bundesliga titles, five DFB Pokals and even the UEFA Cup. Second largest club in Germany in terms of membership and sixth largest in the world, 'Die Knappen' doesn't quite fit the tag of an underdog except when it comes to Champions League pedigree.
So when Schalke drew reigning Champions League winners Internazionale in the quarterfinals of the 2010-11 edition, expectations in Gelsenkirchen wasn't that high. Inter had completed a treble the previous season and had just knocked out German Champions Bayern Munich in the previous round of the Champions League whereas Schalke had just fired head coach Felix Magath after a disappointing run in the Bundesliga.
The writing seemed to be on the wall at the start of the first leg in Italy when Dejan Stankovic scored a spectacular volley from the halfway line to put Inter ahead with just 27 seconds on the clock. Diego Milito would also find the net for Inter, but a resilient Schalke would equalise twice in the first half with Joel Matip and Edu ensuring that the score was 2-2 at the break.
The wheels would completely come off for the defending champions in the second half. First, European veteran Raul Gonzalez would beat Julio Cesar to put Schalke ahead after eight minutes of the restart. Within ten minutes of the goal, Inter completely disintegrated - Andrea Ranocchia scored an own goal to make the score 2-4 and Cristian Chivu was handed his second red card in four days to seal Inter's fate. Edu would score his second late on to hand Schalke a remarkable 5-2 advantage to take back to Germany.
Schalke's Veltins Arena was sold out for the second leg as fans geared up to cheer Schalke on to their first Champions League semifinal. It hardly mattered as Inter showed up having seemingly accepted defeat. Never was Schalke in danger of conceding four times at the former Arena AufSchalke and a routine 2-1 victory followed which saw Schalke march on to the semifinals with a 7-3 aggregate victory.
#4 Dynamo Kiev 3-1 Real Madrid: 1998-99
Real Madrid has faced Dynamo Kiev ten times in European competitions and has remained unbeaten nine times. But the lone defeat eliminated Los Merengues from the 1998-99 Champions League at the quarter-final stage. The reason for Kiev's success - Goals from a 22 years old striker named Andriy Shevchenko.
Shevchenko had been with Kiev since the age of 10 and had a scoring rate of one goal every two games for the senior side. But even with 'Sheva' in the team, Kiev had barely qualified for the main draw of the competition, having been just two minutes away from elimination at the hands of Sparta Prague in the second qualification round.
After yet another sluggish start in the group stages, Dynamo eventually found their rhythm - winning their group and eliminating Arsenal along the way. But the quarter-final draw placed them against defending champions Real Madrid which seemed to signal the end of festivities for Shevchenko and co.
But the first leg at a sparsely occupied Santiago Bernabeu did not go according to plan for Real as Sergei Rebrov put Shevchenko clear to give Kiev the lead. Real would equalise immediately, but the 1-1 draw would leave the tie finely balanced going into the return leg.
The Spaniards were treated to a quite a spectacle in Ukraine as the Olympic stadium in Kiev was packed to the hilt by rowdy Dynamo supporters. All the pressure from a Real squad comprising of Davor Suker, Raul and Morientes could not break down a resolute Dynamo defence. To make matters worse, goalkeeper Bodo Illgner conceded a penalty for pulling down Shevchenko in the area in the 62nd minute.
In front of 80,000 supporters, Shevchenko appeared to fluff his chance when Illgner dived low to the left to keep out the spot kick. But Illgner couldn't hold on to the ball and Shevchenko made no mistake from the rebound to send the home fans into a frenzy.
11 minutes later, Shevchenko scored his third goal of the tie from an exquisite Rebrov pass to put the result beyond doubt. A 3-1 aggregate victory took Kiev to a first European Cup semifinal in 12 years and the significance of the result was never more apparent than when Ukranian president Leonid Kuchma entered the dressing room and kissed coach Valeriy Lobanovskyi on the cheek three times.
Kiev would be narrowly beaten by Bayern Munich in the semifinals, but Shevchenko would win the Golden boot and embark on his legendary run with A.C Milan at the end of the season.
#3 Widzew Lodz 4-3 Liverpool: 1982-83
Engish clubs had dominated the European Cup from the mid-1970s and by the time of the 1982-83 season, the trophy had been won by English clubs for six straight years. Reigning Champions Aston Villa and English Champions Liverpool would lead the charge that season - only for both sides to exit at the Quarterfinal stage. The Villains were thrashed by Juventus whereas Liverpool - more surprisingly - were ousted by Polish Champions Widzew Lodz.
Widzew would later succumb to financial troubles and has started life again recently from the lower rungs of Polish football - but it was quite a different story 35 years ago when they entertained Ian Rush's Liverpool in the Champions League.
The English Champions were strangely out of their elements in the first leg at the LKS Stadion and succumbed to a 2-0 defeat. A turnaround at Anfield seemed feasible when Phil Neal halved the arrears with a 15th-minute penalty in the second leg, though.
However, the Reds themselves conceded a penalty in the 39th minute and Wlodi Smolarek put the visitors ahead eights minutes after the restart. Needing four more goals to progress, a flurry of activity in the final ten minutes saw Liverpool score twice. But a 3-2 victory was not enough to prevent a 3-4 aggregate defeat and the Poles went through to set up a semi-final tie with Juventus.
Widzew would compete in the Champions League proper only once more - in the 1996-97 season where they were eliminated in the group stages.
#2 CSKA Sofia 2-1 Liverpool: 1981-82
The 1980-81 Champions League was a memorable one for Liverpool. The Reds would capture the title beating Real Madrid in the final and were favoured to retain their title heading into the 1981-82 edition. There was a sense of deja vu in the quarterfinals when Liverpool were drawn against the same side whom they had faced the previous year - CSKA Sofia.
The Bulgarians had been dispatched 6-1 the previous year and the Kop was understandably confident going in to match against a side that required extra time to dispatch Northern Irish Champions Glentoran in the previous round.
The first leg at Anfield saw Liverpool - with Ian Rush, Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness in the side - beat the Bulgarians 1-0. A slender lead, which would be put to the test in the return leg at the Vasil Levski Stadium in front of 70,000 partisan CSKA supporters.
Sure enough, CSKA cancelled out the deficit in the 77th minute when Stoycho Mladenov put the Bulgarians ahead. The match went into extra time and Mladenov would earn his nickname as 'Liverpool's executioner' when he beat Bruce Grobbelaar in the 101st minute to put the Army Club ahead in the tie.
Liverpool desperately hunted for an away goal that would take them through, but their fate was sealed three minutes from time when a frustrated Mark Lawrenson was shown a red card. CSKA held on to set up a semifinal date with Bayern Munich.
They would remarkably take a 3-0 lead in the home leg and eventually win the match 4-3, before succumbing to a superior Bayern side 7-4 on aggregate.
#1 Deportivo La Coruna 5-4 A.C Milan: 2003-04
Deportivo La Coruna experienced their golden age during the mid-90s and 00s, winning the La Liga and multiple Copas Del Rey while dishing out exciting performances in Europe. ' 'SuperDepor' would make the Champions League quarter-finals thrice during that period, losing out to Leeds United and Manchester United in the first two before meeting defending Champions A.C Milan in the 2003-04 season.
Depor were in no sense underdogs, having beaten Italian Champions Juventus in the Round of 16 stage and were not unfamiliar with Milan, having played them four times in the group stages over the previous years. But what would make Depor longshots to progress coming into the second leg at the Estadio Riazor was the thrashing they had received at the San Siro in the opening leg.
The Milan side were one of the greatest in the competition's history, comprising the likes of Kaka, Shevchenko, Pirlo, Nesta, Maldini and Inzaghi and had plundered four goals in eight minutes to crush Deportivo 4-1 at the San Siro. Never had a three-goal deficit been overcome in Champions League history up to that point and Depor had mountainous odds to overcome in the return leg at the Riazor, with Milan having yet to concede an away goal that season.
But a confident Milan were torn to shreds by Depor at the Riazor with Walter Pandiani taking just five minutes to beat Dida. Further goals from Juan Carlos Valeron and Albert Luque meant that Depor needed just 44 minutes to wipe out the Rossoneri's advantage. A shellshocked Milan side were deflated heading into the break and seemed no better after coming out for the second half.
Already ahead on away goals, Javier Irureta's side comfortably held the Italians at bay during the final 45. They would even apply the icing on the cake when Fran beat Dida in the 76th minute to put Depor 4-0 ahead on the night. With Milan never coming close to scoring, the tie finished 5-4 to Depor on aggregate.
Depor would join Porto, Monaco and Chelsea to set up the most open semifinal of the Champions League era and would only be denied by a Derlei penalty against Porto in the semifinals from extending their dream run in Europe.
