4) AS Monaco 03/04
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AS Monaco stunned the world of football when the Ligue 1 side made it to the finals of the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League final. The principality club performed a wonderful giant-killing act en route to the final but heartbreakingly lost to FC Porto in the final.
AS Monaco began their UEFA Champions League campaign drawn in a group with PSV Eindhoven, AEK Athens and Deportivo la Coruna. With Fernando Morientes, Dado Prso and Ludovic Guily banging in the goals at the business end of the pitch, it was no surprise when the principality club topped their group with 11 points, having scored 15 goals in 6 games, including an 8-3 win over Depor and a 4-0 hammering of AEK.
The Ligue 1 side were handed an easy draw in the Round-of-16, although travelling to Moscow to take on Lokomotiv Moskva affected Monaco, as they lost the first leg 2-1, but were grateful for Morientes’ away goal, when Prso gave them the lead in the second leg, thus eventually triumphing on away goals after the tie finished 2-2 on aggregate.
It was the quarterfinals that were the most dramatic, however, as Morientes came back to haunt the club he was loaned from, Real Madrid. The Spanish striker scored a vital away goal when Real triumphed 4-2 at the Bernabeu, and a brace from Giuly coupled with Morientes’ strike meant that Monaco won the second leg 3-1, thus resulting in the French side going through on away goals yet again, with the tie ending 5-5 on aggregate.
Monaco displayed their spirited nature in the semifinal’s against Chelsea, as despite going down to 10 men with the score at 1-1, came back to win 3-1 in the first leg. With Chelsea leading 2-0 in the second leg, the dream seemed over, but Moreintes and Ibarra scored to stun Chelsea and earn Monaco their first Champions League final appearance ever.
However, Monaco’s famed backbone completely disappeared in the final, as the the Ligue 1 side meekly surrendered to FC Porto, ultimately going down by 3 goals as they had to settle for the runner’s up spot.
