50 Greatest Games in Champions League History

This is a list of the 50 greatest games in Champions League history.

Inside you'll find all the classics, from Liverpool's magical comeback in Istanbul, to Manchester United's stunning late show at the Camp Nou. In between, Europe's most prestigious club competition has produced high drama at every stage.

Before we get to the list, though, we have two disclaimers. First, we only selected matches from the Champions League era, which began in the 1992-93 season. That means you won't find any matches from the European Cup era of the 1960s, '70s and '80s.

Second, these games aren't ranked. But you can probably guess which ones we think are the best.

Have an opinion? Of course you do. Leave it in the comments.

Manchester United 3-3 Barcelona, 1998-99 Group Stage

A forgotten fact of Manchester United's run to the 1999 Champions League title is that the Red Devils actually finished second in their group that season behind Bayern Munich—the same team they beat in the final.

United drew four of their six group-stage matches that season, including both against Barcelona by the score of 3-3. The draw at Old Trafford was the pick of the pair, with United taking a 2-0 lead through Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes (do those names sound familiar all these years later?) before Barcelona tied it.

David Beckham put United back in front with a free kick, but Luis Enrique struck late to give Barca the draw.

Marseille 1-0 Real Madrid, 1993 Final

The first final in the rebranded Champions League is still the only European title won by a French club. Appropriately enough, the victory came against Real Madrid, the European Cup's most successful side.

Ivorian midfielder Basile Boli scored the game's only goal in the 43rd minute.

In 1994, Marseille became embroiled in a match-fixing scandal that saw them relegated to the second tier of French football.

Dynamo Kiev 3-2 Spartak Moscow, 1994-95 Group Stage

Neither team advanced from Group B that season, but this encounter in Kiev was memorable as the first between the two old rivals after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. (The two previously played twice a year in the Soviet league.)

Kiev fell behind 2-0 before Viktor Leonenko tied it with a brace. An up-and-coming Sergie Rebrov bagged the late winner.

Porto 3-2 Werder Bremen, 1993-94 Group Stage

Porto led 2-0 through 80 minutes of both teams' 1993-94 group-stage opener. Then, chaos.

Ze Carlos scored Porto's third in the 83rd minute before Bernd Hobsch (85th) and Wynton Rufer (86th) quickly pulled two back for the German champions.

It wasn't enough, though, and Werder crashed out at the group stage. Porto lost in the semifinals.

Inter Milan 1-5 Arsenal, 2003-04 Group Stage

Arsenal had lost to Inter 3-0 at Highbury earlier in the 2003-04 Champions League and entered the San Siro needing a win to stay alive.

They got it in astounding fashion. Thierry Henry put the Gunners ahead in the 25th minute before Christian Vieri equalized seven minutes later. Freddie Ljungberg grabbed the go-ahead strike shortly after halftime—before Henry, Edu and Robert Pires iced it with goals in the final five minutes.

Bayer Leverkusen 1-2 Real Madrid, 2002 Final

Both teams notched goals in the opening 13 minutes before Zinedine Zidane produced an all-time moment to win it.

Raul opened the scoring in the eighth minute before Lucio pulled Leverkusen level five minutes later.

Just before halftime, Zidane settled the contest with that goal.

Barcelona 5-1 Chelsea, 2000 Quarterfinal, Second Leg

Chelsea won the first leg 3-1 at Stamford Bridge, but Barcelona repeated the scoreline through 90 minutes at the Camp Nou.

In extra time, Rivaldo put Barca ahead with a 99th-minute penalty before Patrick Kluivert sealed it with another goal five minutes later.

The pace hardly dropped throughout the 120 minutes.

AC Milan 4-0 Barcelona

Ronald Koeman's Barcelona, with a roster full of attacking talent like Romario and Hristo Stoichkov, were expected to win comfortably. Instead, Milan romped in Athens.

Fabio Capello's Milan played with suspended captain Franco Baresi, but it didn't matter. Daniele Massaro put the Rossoneri ahead with two goals in the first half.

Dejan Savicevic, who had assisted Massaro's second, scored the third with a lob over Barca keeper Andoni Zubizarreta. French defender Marcel Desailly scored the fourth and in the process claimed his second consecutive winner's medal.

Ajax 1-0 AC Milan, 1995 Final

One legend took his last bow as another entered the spotlight.

Dutch icon Frank Rijkaard won a Champions League medal in his final game as Ajax claimed their fourth title. But it was Rijkaard's young countryman who stole the spotlight.

Patrick Kluivert, then just 18, scored the winner—after a pass by Rijkaard—in the 85th minute.

Milan were denied their sixth title, a mark that would have tied Real Madrid at the time.

Ajax 1-1 Juventus, 1996 Final

One year later, Ajax came up just short of a repeat as Juventus claimed their second title all-time.

Fabrizio Ravanelli put the Italians ahead in the 12th minute before Jari Litmanen tied it for Ajax in the 41st. The score remained level through extra time, and Juventus won the penalty shootout 4-2.

Patrick Kluivert, the hero of the 1995 final, did not take a penalty in the shootout.

Hamburg 4-4 Juventus, 2000-01 Group Stage

Hamburg's first-ever Champions League match won't soon be forgotten.

The Germans fell behind to Igor Tudor's sixth-minute header but drew level 11 minutes later thanks to Tony Yeboah. Filippo Inzaghi restored Juventus' lead before halftime, and after the break the match went bonkers.

Inzaghi put Juventus ahead 3-1 in the 52nd minute before Mehdi Mahdavikia pulled one back for the hosts. Then Hamburg goalie Hans-Jorg Butt tied it again with a 72nd-minute penalty.

Niko Kovac gave Hamburg the lead in the 82nd minute but Inzaghi completed his hat trick six minutes later to rescue a draw for Juventus.

Neither team advanced from the group, but this match will go down as one of the competition's greatest.

AC Milan 0-2 Arsenal, 2008 Round of 16, Second Leg

Few gave Arsenal a chance when they headed to Milan after drawing with AC Milan at home in the first leg. But an in-form Cesc Fabregas inspired the Gunners to a famous victory—a first for English teams at the San Siro.

Arsenal's youngsters applied pressure throughout but needed almost the full 90 minutes to find the opener. The breakthrough was worth the wait, though, as Fabregas hit the net from 30 yards out in the 85th minute.

Three minutes later Emmanuel Adebayor put it away after nice work from Theo Walcott.

Liverpool 4-2 Arsenal, 2008 Quarterfinals, Second Leg

But Arsenal's European run lasted only one more round that year. Liverpool put them out with a stunning performance just weeks later.

Dirk Kuyt had secured a draw for Liverpool at the Emirates in the first leg. Abou Diaby then put Arsenal ahead at Anfield in the second leg, but Liverpool took control with goals from Sami Hyypia and Fernando Torres either side of halftime.

Adebayor drew Arsenal level momentarily in the 84th minute, but Steven Gerrard slammed home the winning penalty just moments later.

Ryan Babel added Liverpool's fourth two minutes into stoppage time.

Chelsea 3-2 Liverpool (a.e.t.), 2008 Semifinals, Second Leg

Liverpool then had their 2008 Champions League run ended by Chelsea in the semifinals.

Chelsea had rescued a late draw in the first leg at Anfield thanks to a headed own goal by Liverpool's John Arne Riise deep into second-half stoppage time. The return leg went even longer, with both teams scoring at least once in extra time.

The score was level at 1-1 after full time. Frank Lampard put Chelsea ahead with a penalty in the 98th minute, and Didier Drogba made it 3-1 seven minutes later. Ryan Babel's 117th-minute goal made it 3-2 and set up a tense finale.

Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea (a.e.t.), 2008 Final

Chelsea, in turn, fell to Manchester United in the final. You probably remember the game very well.

It rained in Moscow. Cristiano Ronaldo and Frank Lampard scored in regular time. It rained some more. Nobody scored in extra time. It rained some more.

John Terry had a chance to win it. He slipped on the rainy pitch and missed his penalty with Chelsea leading the shootout 4-3.

Ryan Giggs converted United's final penalty, Nicolas Anelka missed Chelsea's, it rained some more and United took home their third European title.

Chelsea 4-4 Liverpool, 2009 Quarterfinals, Second Leg

Chelsea and Liverpool met again in the 2009 quarterfinals. Chelsea took a 3-1 lead into the second leg at Stamford Bridge and nearly threw it away.

Fabio Aurelio and Xabi Alonso both scored in the first half to give Liverpool a 2-0 lead and level the tie at 3-3. Chelsea responded with goals by Didier Drogba and Alex early in the second half and made it 3-2 on the night via Frank Lampard's 76th-minute goal.

Liverpool set up a frantic finish with two goals in a three-minute stretch. First Lucas Leiva tied the match in the 81st minute. Then Dirk Kuyt put the Reds up 4-3 (but still behind 6-5 on aggregate) two minutes later.

Lampard finally put away the match and the tie with his second goal of the night in the 89th minute.

But none of that does justice to this match. Do yourself a favor and watch the highlights.

Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Juventus, 1997 Final

Juventus may have been the Champions League's most successful team in the mid- to late 1990s. Winners in 1996, they were beaten finalists in 1997 and 1998, and semifinalists in 1999 (more on that later).

In the 1997 final, Dortmund took a 2-0 lead behind a brace by striker Karl-Heinz Riedle. Alessandro Del Piero pulled one back for Juventus in the 64th minute, but Lars Ricken sealed the win for the Germans with a 71st-minute strike.

The victory on near-home turf (Munich) remains Dortmund's only to date.

Juventus 0-1 Real Madrid, 1998 Final

Juventus dropped their second straight final one year later in Amsterdam.

Predrag Mijatovic scored the only goal as Real Madrid won their seventh European title at the Amsterdam ArenA.

Barcelona 2-1 Arsenal, 2006 Final

Arsenal have experienced unprecedented success under French manager Arsene Wenger, but the only title that has eluded the Gunners is the Champions League. The 2006 season was a near-miss.

Appropriately enough, Arsenal's first European title would have come in Paris. And the Gunners took the lead in the 37th minute through defender Sol Campbell despite being a man down after goalkeeper Jens Lehmann's dismissal 19 minutes earlier.

But Barcelona came from behind in the second half with two goals in a five-minute span. Samuel Eto'o tied it in the 76th minute, and Juliano Belletti scored the winner in the 81st.

AC Milan 2-1 Liverpool, 2007 Final

The following year, AC Milan took revenge on Liverpool for the 2005 meltdown (don't worry, it's coming).

This time, Milan took the lead through Filippo Inzaghi on the stroke of halftime. The score remained 1-0 until the 82nd minute, when Inzaghi scored his second.

Dirk Kuyt pulled one back for Liverpool one minute from time, but Liverpool didn't have a miraculous comeback in store this time.

Dynamo Kiev 3-3 Bayern Munich, 1999 Semifinal, First Leg

Everybody remembers what happened in the 1999 final (we'll get to that later). Not as many remember that Bayern Munich had a tough time with Dynamo Kiev in the semis.

The Ukrainians took a two-goal lead at home in the first leg behind Andriy Shevchenko's brace, but Michael Tarnat pulled one back for Bayern on the stroke of halftime.

Vitaly Kosovsky restored Dynamo's two-goal lead shortly after the break, but Bayern leveled with late goals from Stefan Effenberg and Carsten Jancker.

The Bavarians won the lower-scoring second leg 1-0 to advance to the famous 1999 final.

Deportivo La Coruña 4-3 Paris Saint-Germain, 2001 Group Stage

PSG took a 3-0 lead through Jay-Jay Okocha's lucky opener and a brace by Leroy, who was a last-second injury replacement for Nicolas Anelka.

Then, future Birmingham City "star" Walter Pandiani scored three times with headers—his third, the winner, appears at left—and Diego Tristan added another as Deportivo pulled off an improbable comeback in the final 30 minutes.

Valencia 5-2 Lazio, 2000 Quarterfinal, First Leg

Who says you have to play it safe in the first leg?

Miguel Angel Angulo opened the scoring for the home side in the second minute, and Valencia ran riot from there. Gerard Lopez added the second two minutes later, and although Simone Inzaghi pulled one back for Lazio in the 28th minute, Valencia were always comfortable.

Lopez scored his second in the 40th minute and completed his hat trick in the 80th—making the score 4-1 on the night. Claudio Lopez added the fifth in stoppage time after Marcelo Salas' consolation strike for Lazio.

Valencia progressed to the final, where they lost 3-0 to Real Madrid. Lazio won the Serie A title that season.

Manchester United 4-3 Real Madrid, 2003 Quarterfinals, Second Leg

Lost amid Ronaldo's (the original, not the whiny dude who currently plays for Real Madrid) brilliant hat trick in this frenetic quarterfinal was an outstanding offensive performance by Manchester United.

Trailing 3-1 after the first leg at the Bernabeu, United needed lots of goals. And they got them. David Beckham scored twice against his future team, and Ruud van Nistelrooy did the same (only once though) with a first-half equalizer.

Problem was, no one could stop Ronaldo. The Brazilian legend scored in the 12th, 50th and 59th minutes to make United's offensive outburst irrelevant.

Juventus 2-1 Werder Bremen, 2006 Round of 16, Second Leg

Either of this tie's two legs could have made the list, but we'll go with the second leg based on dramatic tension.

Werder Bremen, who had finished nine points behind Barcelona in the 2005-06 group stage, beat Juventus 3-2 at home in the first leg after a crazy final 20 minutes. Juventus, who won their group easily, took their revenge in the return leg—though only after more drama.

Werder took a shock lead on the night—and a 4-2 aggregate advantage—on Johan Micoud's 13th-minute opener. David Trezeguet equalized midway through the second half, and Emerson took advantage of Werder keeper Tim Wiese's error (video at left) in scoring the 88th-minute winner.

Manchester United 1-1 Porto, 2004 Round of 16, Second Leg

Before Jose Mourinho was Jose Mourinho, he had to conquer Sir Alex Ferguson. He did so with Porto in 2003-04's first knockout phase.

Mourinho's Porto won the first leg 2-1 but trailed United 1-0 late in the return leg at Old Trafford. United, who were playing without Roy Keane, would have advanced on away goals, but Porto grabbed a late equalizer with a little good fortune.

United keeper Tim Howard parried Benni McCarthy's free kick into the path of Costinha, whose goal sent Porto into the quarterfinals. Porto went on to win the competition and Mourinho went on to become Jose Mourinho.

Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea, 2004 Quarterfinals, Second Leg

Arsenal were in the home stretch of their Invincibles season, and at the time they absolutely owned Chelsea (scroll down to "90 mins"). The Blues, for their part, were still a few months away from the Jose Mourinho era.

So when Arsenal took a 1-0 lead in the second leg following a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, everything seemed in order. But Frank Lampard equalized in the 51st minute, and Wayne Bridge danced through the Arsenal defense to score the winner three minutes from time.

Bridge is still living off the goal to this day.

Bayern Munich 2-3 Inter Milan, 2011 Round of 16, Second Leg

Bayern had won the first leg 1-0 at the San Siro, but Samuel Eto'o served notice with his fourth-minute goal that Inter would put up a fight.

And what a fight it was. Bayern responded with goals from Mario Gomez (21st minute) and Thomas Müller (31st) for a 3-1 aggregate lead. Then Wesley Sneijder tied the match 18 minutes into the second half before Goran Pandev and his Eddie Munster widow's peak sent the Nerazzurri into the quarterfinals with a goal two minutes from time.

Bayern Munich 2-1 Real Madrid, 2007 Round of 16, Second Leg

Real Madrid took a slim 3-2 advantage after the first leg at the Bernabeu. It lasted all of 11 seconds in the return leg.

Roy Makaay drew Bayern level on aggregate with his first-minute strike in Munich, and Lucio doubled the Bavarians' lead in the second half.

Each team had a player sent off in the second half, which also saw Ruud van Nistelrooy convert a penalty.

Inter 4-3 Tottenham, 2010-11 Group Stage

Inter built a 4-0 lead and held on for the victory—but the defending champs were overshadowed by Gareth Bale.

The young Welshman scored an insane second-half hat trick at the San Siro (video at left) as Spurs came alarmingly close to an even-more-insane four-goal comeback. But while Tottenham came up short, no one will ever say the same for Bale's performance that night.

In fact, Bale's treble of goals represented as impressive an individual performance the Champions League saw that season.

Arsenal 2-1 Barcelona, 2011 Round of 16, First Leg

Arsenal's playing style is often compared to Barcelona's, and in 2011 the Gunners had a chance to strut their stuff against the best.

David Villa gave Barca a first-half goal before Arsenal mounted a stirring fightback. Robin van Persie equalized in the 78th minute, and Andrei Arshavin scored a winner that felt more like an emotional release for Gooners.

It was a short-lived catharsis, of course. Barcelona dominated the second leg and won 3-1.

Manchester United 7-1 Roma, 2007 Quarterfinals, Second Leg

Blowouts make only rare appearances on our list, but this quarterfinal from 2007 showcased a brand of skillful attacking by Manchester United that few sides can match.

After losing the first leg 2-1 in Rome, United exploded in the first half at Old Trafford. Michael Carrick, Alan Smith and Wayne Rooney all scored within the first 20 minutes, and Cristiano Ronaldo made it 4-0 just before halftime.

Carrick and Ronaldo scored again after the break, and Patrice Evra added the seventh in the final 10 minutes to cap a scintillating team performance.

Bayern Munich 1-1 Valencia, 2001 Final

Bayern vanquished their Champions League demons two years after the famous 1999 final (more on that later), and this time the Bavarians played the role of spoilers.

Underdogs Valencia went ahead through Gaizka Mendieta's second-minute goal and held the lead at halftime. Stefan Effenberg equalized from the penalty spot five minutes after the break, and the game remained level through full time and extra time.

In the penalty shootout, legendary keeper Oliver Kahn made a decisive save on Mauricio Pellegrino's kick.

Chelsea 1-1 Barcelona, 2009 Semifinals, Second Leg

After a scoreless first leg at the Camp Nou, Chelsea took a ninth-minute lead through Michael Essien in the return match at Stamford Bridge.

It stood up until second-half stoppage time. That's when Andres Iniesta…well, you know.

Barca went on to win the competition—after being literally seconds away from departing it.

Liverpool 3-1 Olympiakos, 2004-05 Group Stage

Before Liverpool's magical night in Istanbul in May 2005 (keep on reading—it's coming), the Reds first had to qualify for the knockout stages. And to do that, they had to beat Olympiakos by two clear goals in their final group-stage match.

That didn't seem likely when Rivaldo put the Greeks ahead in the 26th minute, but Sinama Pongolle started the comeback with a 47th-minute equalizer.

Neil Mellor put Liverpool ahead in the 81st minute and Steven Gerrard rifled home a stunning—and destiny-setting—third goal four minutes from time.

Inter Milan 3-1 Barcelona, 2010 Semifinals, First Leg

These days, Barcelona seem unbeatable in the Champions League. But in 2010 Jose Mourinho and Inter Milan showed everyone how it's done.

The Nerazzurri played rock-solid defense and scored on three of their four shots on target. That was enough to humble Barcelona—and a month later it was the formula for victory in the Champions League final.

Manchester United 3-2 AC Milan, 2007 Semifinals, First Leg

Semifinals often provide even more drama than finals (as we'll see over the next several slides), and Manchester United's 3-2 triumph over Milan in 2007 was a great example.

Two weeks after their demolition of AS Roma in the quarters, United raced to a fifth-minute lead over Milan through Cristiano Ronaldo's goal. Kaka hit a first-half brace to give Milan a halftime lead, but Wayne Rooney scored twice in the second half—including a stoppage-time winner—to send United into the second leg with a 3-2 advantage.

Milan overturned it easily, though, winning 3-0 at the San Siro in the return leg.

Ajax 5-2 Bayern Munich, 1995 Semifinals, Second Leg

The first leg ended scoreless in Bavaria. The second leg was much more explosive, with Ajax storming to a 4-1 lead one minute into the second half.

They also won the uniform match 37-0 and went on to claim the 1995 Champions League title.

PSV Eindhoven 3-1 AC Milan, 2005 Semifinals, Second Leg

Milan won the first leg comfortably 2-0 at the San Siro. PSV drew level in the return match through Park Ji-Sung (ninth minute) and Philip Cocu (65th) to set up a dramatic finish.

Massimo Ambrosini scored on a brilliant flicked header for Milan in the first minute of stoppage time, and Cocu provided PSV's response one minute later.

Needing one more late goal to advance to the final, PSV finally capitulated. Milan held on—barely—and advanced to a fateful matchup with Liverpool.

Nantes 3-2 Juventus, 1996 Semifinals, Second Leg

Before Juventus won the 1996 crown, the Italians survived a plucky challenge from Nantes in the semifinals.

Juventus won the first leg 2-0 but fell 3-2 on the road in France. Nantes would have needed a couple more goals to advance (Juventus held the advantage with two away goals), but for a while anything seemed possible.

Liverpool 1-0 Chelsea (a.e.t.), 2007 Semifinals, Second Leg

Both teams won 1-1 at home, with Liverpool claiming the second leg at Anfield thanks to Daniel Agger's first-half goal.

Both teams also had chances to win the match—and the tie—in regular time. Instead, spot kicks were needed to separate the English rivals.

Liverpool won 4-1 with Dirk Kuyt converting the decisive kick.

As Monaco 3-2 Juventus, 1998 Semifinals, Second Leg

Monaco sought to overturn a 4-1 deficit from the first leg. They never came close enough to force Juventus into panic, but the second leg offered plenty of excitement nonetheless.

Philippe Leonard, a 20-year-old Thierry Henry and Robert Spehar scored for Monaco, while Nicola Amoruso and Alessandro Del Piero netted for Juventus, who would lose to Real Madrid in the final.

Chelsea 2-2 AS Monaco, 2004 Semifinals, Second Leg

This time Monaco were guarding a first-leg lead—and they almost blew it.

Trailing 3-1 after the first leg, Chelsea took a 2-0 lead late in the first half after a Frank Lampard strike. Had it stood, the result would have sent Chelsea into the final against Porto.

Instead, Monaco's Hugo Ibarra scored two minutes into first-half stoppage time, and Fernando Morientes added a screamer midway through the second half (video at left) to seal Chelsea's fate.

Manchester United 2-2 Bayer Leverkusen, 2002 Semifinals, First Leg

After losing at Arsenal and Liverpool earlier that season, Bayer Leverkusen (featuring Dimitar Berbatov against his future club) twice equalized after Manchester United took the lead.

A week later the Germans held United again, 1-1 in Germany, and advanced to the final on away goals.

Chelsea 4-2 Barcelona, 2005, Round of 16, Second Leg

Believe it or not, this very un-Mourinho-like Chelsea performance came under none other than Jose Mourinho.

The Blues went ahead 3-0 as Eidur Gudjohnsen, Frank Lampard and Damien Duff all scored in the opening 20 minutes. Ronaldinho, the reigning World Player of the Year, pulled two back for Barca, and in the second half Andres Iniesta and Carles Puyol both went close.

But John Terry put away the match—and won the tie for Chelsea—with a headed goal 14 minutes from time.

Newcastle United 3-2 Barcelona, 1997 Group Stage

Check out this report from the Independent following Newcastle's 3-2 win over Barcelona in the 1997-98 group stages:

"

In football, one man's misfortune is another's opportunity and Faustino Asprilla last night took the chance offered by Alan Shearer's broken leg like a starving man at a smorgasbord. Having already won Newcastle a place in the Champions' League with his performance in Croatia, he produced a virtuoso display of forward play to tear mighty Barcelona apart. His 22-minute hat-trick left Barcelona facing humiliation in front of a rampant St James' Park. That they rallied and almost forced a draw was an indication both of their quality and Newcastle's achievement.

"

What kind of performance could have inspired such overblown hyperbole? Find out for yourself with the video at left.

Deportivo La Coruña 4-0 AC Milan, 2004 Quarterfinal, Second Leg

Deportivo La Coruña lost the first leg 4-1 at the San Siro but turned around this 2004 quarterfinal tie with three goals—one each from Walter Pandiani, Juan Carlos Valeron and Albert Luque—in the opening 43 minutes of the return match.

That early salvo would have been enough to send Deportivo through on away goals, but Fran scored a second-half winner just for good measure.

Manchester United 2-1 Bayern Munich, 1999 Final

This memorable final almost never happened (see the next slide and No. 21 for more information). And for 90 minutes, it wasn't actually all that memorable.

Bayern Munich took the lead in the sixth minute through Mario Basler's deflected free kick, and despite several Bayern chances the score remained 1-0 until second-half stoppage time.

One minute into stoppage time, Teddy Sheringham tied it. Three minutes in, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer won it for United.

Juventus 2-3 Manchester United, 1999 Semifinal, Second Leg

Juventus's Filippo Inzaghi scored two goals in the first 11 minutes, and Manchester United captain Roy Keane received an early yellow card that ruled him out of the final—though it didn't look like United would advance that far.

United fought back with goals from Keane and Dwight Yorke late in the first half, and led the tie on away goals before grabbing a late winner through Andy Cole.

Keane turned in a man-of-the-match performance despite the knowledge that he wouldn't play in the final.

Liverpool 3-3 Milan (a.e.t.), 2005 Final

Liverpool trailed AC Milan 3-0 at halftime of the 2005 final. But after six insane second-half minutes, the Reds were back on level terms thanks to goals from Steven Gerrard, Vladimir Smicer and Xabi Alonso.

The score remained 3-3 through full time and extra time. Liverpool claimed their fifth European title after winning the penalty shootout 3-2.

Along the way, goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek made a memorable double-save on Andriy Shevchenko near the end of normal time. Dudek also saved Shevchenko's penalty in the shootout.

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