Perhaps the most important aspect of football is the simple pass. Just ask Paul Scholes, as he so duly proved to Cristiano Ronaldo in a training session for Manchester United. As legend has it, Scholes called Ronaldo over after watching him do a bunch of step overs, and showed him a tree 50m away and hit it with deadly accuracy.
Ronaldo tried his best to do the same but could not. Scholes or Sat-Nav as he would be nick-named was spot on there. How important is that killer pass? Whether from open play or a free kick or a corner, some passes have made legends of the goal scorers and have turned games and ties on their head.
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Here is a look at some iconic passes that changed games and made history. Kindly note the videos start exactly at the pass.
#10 The pass – Dennis Bergkamp to Patrick Vieira
The game – 2004, Arsenal vs Leicester City
The story – Arsenal needed to avoid defeat in their last game of the season, at Highbury, to accomplish a feat no other team had ever done – To finish a season unbeaten in the league. They found themselves 1-0 down to Leicester, courtesy a Paul Dickov goal. Thierry Henry promptly equalised from the penalty spot to draw level, but the final goal that cemented them in the history books was a sublime move.
Dennis Bergkamp took the ball in the opposition half, waited for a Patrick Vieira run and slid an arrow of a pass through the Leicester defence to find his captain. Vieira, casually finished off the move by rounding the keeper and scoring. Brilliant.
#9 The pass – Enrique Romero To Walter Pandiani
The game – 2004, Deportivo La Coruna vs AC Milan
The story – It was the Champions League quarter final in 2004-05. In the first leg at the San Siro, a ruthless AC Milan side, the defending champions of Europe, tore apart Spanish minnows Deportivo La Coruna beating them 4-1 with a brace from Kaka and goals from Andriy Shevchenko and Andrea Pirlo. Milan had a 3-0 aggregate lead going into the next leg at Estadio Riazor in A Coruna.
Before the game, Deportivo’s coach Javier Irureta said, "This is, of course, a very complex, difficult and challenging task. But in football miracles often happen, things that you might not expect from the rational mind. Milan are one of the best teams in the world and they won the first leg by three goals, but in football, there is always hope for those who are determined, and my players will all be very determined."
Deportivo were down and out in the first leg but playing at home was certainly a huge lift. With the crowd pensive yet buzzing with hope of the unthinkable, In the first five minutes Enrique Romero the left back received the ball on the left flank. Instead of crossing the ball aerially, something which the Milan defence of Maldini and Nesta were expecting, Romero drilled a low pass straight to striker Walter Pandiani.
Pandiani then with his back to goal, took a good touch and immediately swivelled and unleashed a left-footed shot towards the bottom corner before Maldini could block. Pandiani beat Dida and scored what would be the vital goal that put Deportivo 1-0 up and re-kindled hope amongst his teammates. Deportivo went on to win the game 4-0, knocking out the champions AC Milan.
Goals from Juan Carlos Valeron, Albert Luque, and Fran, would ensure Deportivo created history as the first ever side to overcome a 3-0 first leg deficit and go through to the next round.
#8 The pass – Gianluca Zambrotta To Pavel Nedved
The game – 2003, Juventus vs Real Madrid
The story – Real Madrid’s galacticos were defending their Champions League crown, the one they won against Bayer Leverkusen with “that” Zidane volley. They came up against a formidable Juventus side, in the 2002-03 Champions League semi-final.
Despite a David Trezeguet goal at half-time, Los Blancos beat the Old Lady 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu with goals from Brazilians Luis Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos. Madrid went into the away leg at the Delle Alpi in Turin as favourites to qualify for the final.
Before the game, Juventus captain Alessandro Del Piero was vocal about their chances, he said, "These are great games and everyone here at Juventus is fired up. We didn't start that well in the first leg and we even seemed a bit taken aback but we started to play better when we relaxed and we hope to do just that on Wednesday night." while Marcelo Lippi added, “We want to reach the final but not because we lost to Madrid five years ago. We will have to use our heads and our hearts to eliminate Real Madrid. One or the other is not enough
."
Juventus had not played Madrid since the 1998 Champions League final. But they were on fire in Turin, Trezeguet and Del Piero scored goals in the first half to get their side 2-0 up in the game and 3-2 up on aggregate. The game went on in the second half and Nedved was on fire all game creating space and causing havoc for the Madrid defence.
In the 73rd minute Gianluca Zambrotta picked up the ball in his own half, on the right flank, and after bouncing it off his thigh, delivered a perfectly weighted, delightful aerial pass over the Madrid defence, unleashing Pavel Nedved who finished the game off and sent Juventus into the Champions League final with a stunning first-time strike into the bottom corner of the net.
Nedved who was Juventus’ star performer all through the tournament would go on to make a reckless challenge on Steve Mcmanaman and get suspended for the final. A Zinedine Zidane goal in the 89th minute was merely a consolation, making Nedved’s goal the tie winner.
#7 The pass – Deco one-two with Alenichev
The game – 2004, FC Porto vs Monaco
The story – The Champions League final in 2003-04 was between Monaco and FC Porto, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Monaco beat Chelsea in the semi-final while Porto overcame mercurial Deportivo La Coruna. They met in the final with much to prove, in what was a Champions League campaign with huge upsets.
The young, unknown Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho who knocked out Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United was full of confidence for the final. Key battles were to be fought between Monaco’s Fernando Morientes, Ludovic Giuly and Jerome Rothen against the then young, Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira while Deco and Maniche in Porto’s midfield were expected to run the show.
Carlos Alberto scored the opener in the 39th minute with a fantastic finish. As Monaco threatened constantly, the game was end to end. But then in the second half, in a swift counter attack by Porto, Deco picked up the ball in midfield and after beating his man played a pass to Alenichev on the left flank.
Alenichev passed back to Deco as he checked his run and allowed all the Monaco defenders to move ahead. After receiving the ball, he chipped the ball into the bottom of the net. That goal and that move, created and finished by Deco, sealed the game for Porto.
Alenichev scored a third in the 75th minute and Jose Mourinho won his first Champions League title and the rest as they say is history.
#6 The pass – Gabi to Diego Godin
The game – 2014, FC Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid
The story – The final game of the 2013-14 La Liga season was one to be watched. Atletico Madrid led La Liga by 3 points going into the game. It was the first time since 1951 and only the third time in the history of La Liga that the title came down to the final game of the season.
Atletico had fluffed their chance of winning the league against Malaga, securing only a draw thanks to a Toby Alderweireld equaliser. However, Barcelona and Real Madrid both dropped points as well. The title was to be decided in the final game of the season, a mouth watering game between Barcelona and Atletico at the Camp Nou.
Atletico lost Diego Costa and Arda Turan through injury in the first half itself. The things got from bad to worse as Barcelona took the lead in the 35th minute with a belter of a goal from Alexis Sanchez who smacked the ball into the top corner of the net from a tight angle after a Lionel Messi chest down.
Atletico were down 1-0 at halftime and looked like losing their chance to win the title. Simeone rallied his troops at halftime and they came out all guns blazing, in the second half. in the 48th minute, David Villa struck the post and had his shot saved.
Later from a corner, Gabi whipped the ball into the box with pace, which was met by Atletico defender Diego Godin who hit the back of the net with a thunderous header. Atletico held off Barcelona till the final whistle and won their first La Liga title in 18 years and 10th overall.
#5 The pass – Luka Modric To Sergio Ramos
The game – 2014, Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid
The story – Real Madrid were on their hunt for La Decima, their 10th Champions League title. They were the favourites by far and met underdogs Atletico, who had just wrapped up their first La Liga title in 18 years.
In a nail biting, end to end game Atletico took the lead through Diego Godin in the 36th minute and held on for 90 minutes. As the five minutes of added time began, they were two minutes away from a historic double, when the unthinkable happened.
Deep into added time (90+3’), Luka Modric took a precise corner kick into the Atletico box and Real centre-back Sergio Ramos met the flighted ball with aggression and headed the ball powerfully into the Atletico net.
Real equalised in the dying minutes of the game and took the final into extra time. Atletico were completely shattered by Ramos’ goal and succumbed in the next 30 minutes to Los Blancos who put another three past them. That Ramos goal went down in history as the goal that brought Real level and resulted in La Decima. Unbelievable.
#4 The pass – Mario Balotelli to Sergio Aguero
The game – 2012, Manchester City vs QPR
The story – Manchester City and Manchester United were neck and neck in the title race which would all boil down to the last game of the season. City found themselves in need of a victory to finally pick up a league title that eluded them since 1968.
United played Sunderland, while City faced QPR in their final games. Wayne Rooney put United 1-0 up and so did Pablo Zabaleta for City. Djibril Cisse then drew level as Sir Alex’s men looked like being on course to win the league.
John Mackie then scored one more to put QPR 2-1 ahead. It was almost certain that United would win the Premier League. But the game is never over until the final whistle. Edin Dzeko drew City level in added time (90+2’) and then in what was the final move, Aguero passed to Balotelli who lost his balance but managed to scramble a pass into the onrushing Aguero’s path.
The Argentine then took a touch and scored with the last kick of the game to give Manchester City the lead and so won the Premier League title on goal difference. City fans were in dreamland and Mario Balotelli’s pass would remain his only assist in the premier league, which is a record in itself. Historic.
#3 The pass – Juan Mata to Didier Drogba
The game – 2012, Chelsea vs Bayern Munich
The story – Chelsea were in the Champions League final against a lethal unit in Bayern Munich at the Allianz Area. Having suffered heartbreak in Moscow, i.e. losing to Manchester United on penalties in their last Champions League final, Chelsea’s golden generation had come full circle.
In what was a nervy night in Munich, the Premier League club found themselves under siege throughout the game. As the game went on, Thomas Muller scored with a headed effort into the ground that found its way in off the crossbar into the roof of the net, leaving Cech bemused.
With time running out, Chelsea needed something from somewhere. After mounting up some pressure, Juan Mata took an in-swinging corner which Didier Drogba met ferociously. The ball thudded into the Bayern Munich goal, with Neuer unable to save and Chelsea drew level. 1-1. Extra time led to no goals but Chelsea would go on to win the Champions League on penalties, which remains the club’s greatest ever achievement.
Juan Mata was the architect of that goal and although Drogba grabbed all the headlines for the equaliser and the final winning penalty but Mata’s assist changed the face of that match.
#2 The pass – John Arne Riise to Steven Gerrard
The game – 2005, Liverpool vs AC Milan
The story – The mother of all come-backs was this Champions League final in Istanbul. Underdogs Liverpool faced an in-form, star-studded AC Milan side in a match that would go down in history as the miracle of Istanbul.
In the first half, Liverpool found themselves in all sorts of trouble and went down 3-0 to Milan with goals from Paolo Maldini and a brace from Hernan Crespo. The game was dead and buried, or so Milan thought. At half time, Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez delivered the team talk of his life. It certainly got all his players fired up and they came out in the second half, a rejuvenated team.
In the beginning of the first half John Arne Riise picked up the ball on the left flank and after a failed attempt at a cross, put another crisp, curling cross into the box. Liverpool skipper, Steven Gerrard met that pass with full force and accuracy and guided the ball into the Milan net. That goal, in that moment of the game, was the turn of the tide. Riise’s cross was perfectly put in for Gerrard to finish and would spark an unlikely Liverpool comeback.
They then scored again through Vladimir Smicer while Xabi Alonso’s follow up after a missed penalty would make it 3-3. The game went into extra time and heroics from Liverpool keeper Jerzy Dudek took the game to penalties. Once again Dudek came out on top in the shootout and would hand Liverpool the Champions League trophy.
#1 The pass – Teddy Sheringham to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
The game – 1999, Manchester United vs Bayern Munich
The story – In the Champions League final, United were trailing 1-0 to Bayern Munich courtesy a Mario Basler goal. Untied trailed for 90 minutes. But then, a goal from Teddy Sheringham (90+1’) would draw the game level. And in the dying minute of the game, came a headed flick from Sheringham after David Beckham’s corner which resulted in a tap in for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the far post. Making it 2-1.
To this day we don’t know if Sheringham meant that flick as a pass. The last minute of the game, the last kick of the football, it is by far, the most crucial of pass ever made. And it won Manchester United a historic treble.
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