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Against-all-odds recoveries: The iconic three-goal UCL comebacks that show Premier League sides it’s never over Premier League teams face an uphill battle to reach the Champions League quarter-finals this week, with four sides trailing on aggregate. Chelsea , Manchester City , and Tottenham Hotspur were all well beaten in their respective first legs, with each needing to recover three-goal deficits. It's a monumental task, with only four teams in Champions League history having ever achieved the feat.
Deportivo La Coruna 5-4 AC Milan (2003-04) First Leg: AC Milan 4-1 Deportivo La Coruna Second Leg: Deportivo La Coruna 4-0 AC Milan AC Milan were arguably Europe's top team in the early noughties, with the Rossoneri reaching three Champions League finals between 2003 and 2007, winning two. The Italian giants entered the 2003-04 campaign as holders but suffered a shock exit after a second-leg collapse. Milan had waltzed to a quarter-final first-leg win at San Siro, securing a 4-1 win on home soil.
However, the holders capitulated in the return, as goals from Walter Pandiani, Juan Carlos Valeron, Albert Luque and Fran wiped out their lead to send the Spaniards into the semi-finals. Barcelona 6-5 Paris St-Germain (2016-17) First Leg: Paris St-Germain 4-0 Barcelona Second Leg: Barcelona 6-1 Paris St-Germain Paris Saint-Germain blitzed Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of their last-16 tie in 2016-17, with the Parisians running riot at the Parc des Princes. PSG's performance was so dominant that few gave Barcelona even a glimmer of hope in the return.
It had been over two decades since the only previous example of a three-goal recovery, and Barcelona needed four just to level the tie. Incredibly, the Catalans came back to win in a fixture forever known as 'La Remontada'. After racing into a three-goal lead inside 50 minutes, Barcelona's brave performance looked to have been undone when Edinson Cavani replied for PSG.
With 88 minutes on the clock, Barcelona still required three goals but, somehow, found them. Neymar was the driving force, scoring a quick-fire free-kick and penalty, before assisting Sergi Roberto's stoppage-time strike to send Barcelona into bedlam. Barcelona 4-4 Roma (2017-18) - Roma progress on away goals First Leg: Barcelona 4-1 Roma Second Leg: Roma 3-0 Barcelona Just a year after their stunning fightback against PSG, Barcelona were victims of another classic comeback.