Champions League: The 5 best comebacks of the 2018/19 edition

#2 Liverpool vs. Barcelona – Semi-Finals

Liverpool stunned the world by beating Barcelona 4-0 to complete their semi-final comeback

Fans and pundits alike were finding it difficult to call a winner between semi-finalists Liverpool and Barcelona, who had largely cruised to the latter stages of the competition, dispatching Bayern Munich, Lyon, Porto and Manchester United along the way. But after the first leg at the Nou Camp, almost everyone figured Barca had the tie in the bag.

Despite a solid performance from Liverpool – who missed a clutch of chances, including a shocking miss from Sadio Mane – the Spanish side took a 3-0 lead into the second leg. Former Liverpool star Luis Suarez opened the scoring on 26 minutes, and although the Reds pushed for an equaliser, they were instead hit with a stunning one-two from Lionel Messi, with his second goal being a spectacular, unstoppable free-kick on 82 minutes.

Not only did the Reds then need to beat Barca by at least 4 goals to win the tie – even getting to extra-time required 3 goals – but they also needed to keep a clean sheet to give themselves a chance. And worryingly, Ernesto Valverde’s side had only conceded 4 goals once in the season – against Real Betis, who also conceded 3.

Jurgen Klopp’s side had Anfield rocking after just 7 minutes though, when Divock Origi poked a rebound in following Jordan Henderson’s shot being saved. At half-time, the game remained 1-0, but despite Barcelona still being in control, it was clear as the second half began that Liverpool were willing to dig much deeper for the victory than the Spaniards were.

On 54 minutes, substitute Georginio Wijnaldum smashed home from a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross, and insanely, just 2 minutes later he headed in to tie things up. That would’ve been enough to force extra-time, but Barcelona were clearly rocked and Liverpool weren’t willing to let up.

Just before the 80-minute mark, Alexander-Arnold forced a corner, and moments later, the ball was in the Barcelona net again. This time, the England youngster had caught the Barca defence napping – faking walking away before firing the ball into the unmarked Origi, who shot past the stunned Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

It sounded like Anfield itself was about to collapse under the noise made by Liverpool’s support, and somehow, they’d completed one of the best comebacks in Champions League history, becoming the first team since 1986 to overcome a 3-goal first leg deficit to win in the semi-finals.