Deportivo vs. Monaco and the Top 15 High-Scoring Champions League Matches
Wednesday, November 5 will be marked by another round of UEFA Champions League group-stage games, no doubt featuring some fixtures which will have plenty of goals in them—but they'll all likely stand in the shadow of one other game played on this date.
On the same day, 11 years ago, French club AS Monaco destroyed Spanish rivals Deportivo La Coruna by an amazing 8-3 scoreline, the most goals scored in a single Champions League game in the history of the competition. To remember and celebrate it, we're running down the highest-scoring games in the Champions League, finishing with that very same goal extravaganza.
This article focuses purely on the UEFA Champions League era; that is to say, from 1992 onwards. They are also taken from the group stages of the competition onwards, not the preliminary rounds.
Thus, big victories and scorelines from beforehand, during the European Cup days, are not included. For comparison, the biggest scoreline in Europe's biggest competition, including European Cup days, remains KR Reykjavik 2-12 Feyenoord, from 1969-70 season (per worldfootball.net).
Mentions: Also with 8 Goals
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Every fixture listed features eight goals in the game or more, with five additional matches having matched that achievement in the Champions League:
Valencia 6-2 Basel, 2002-03 group stage
Olympiacos 6-2 Bayer Leverkusen, 2002-03 group stage
Manchester United 6-2 Fenerbahce, 2004-05 group stage
Sporting 1-7 Bayern Munich, 2008-09 round of 16
Dinamo Zagreb 1-7 Lyon, 2011-12 group stage
15. Real Madrid 5-3 Bayer Leverkusen
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2000-01 was one of those seasons in the Champions League which saw hideously bloated and extended multiple group stages; the first group stage saw Real Madrid take the points in a tussle with Bayer Leverkusen which yielded eight goals and plenty of Galactico names on the scoresheet.
Guti, Ivan Helguera, Raul and Luis Figo all found the net for the home side, with class eventually telling after B04 had pulled the game back to 2-2 and 3-3 in the second half.
Leverkusen finished third, exiting the Champions League, while Real finished top of both this group and the next, eventually losing in the semi-finals.
14. Borussia Dortmund 5-3 Steaua Bucuresti
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1996-97 would see a certain German side go on to win: Borussia Dortmund, a side with plenty of star names of the day in attack.
In the group stage they served notice of their intent with a thumping 5-3 win at home to Romanian side Steaua Bucuresti, leading 3-1 at the break and going on to close the game out with two goals in two minutes in the second half.
Stephane Chapuisat and Karl-Heinz Riedle were both on the scoresheet; the latter would hit a brace in the final itself.
13. Werder Bremen 5-3 Anderlecht
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The group stage of 1993-94, one of the fledgling Champions League seasons, saw German side Werder Bremen overcome Belgians Anderlecht 5-3—with all of the German club's strikes coming in the final 25 minutes of the match in a shocking and sudden comeback.
Anderlecht had led 3-0 at the break, but imploded late on, shipping three in the final nine minutes of the game.
Neither eventually progressed from the group.
12. Real Madrid 6-2 Dinamo Zagreb
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The 2011-12 Group D matched a perfectly good record against a perfectly poor one: Real Madrid won all six of their games, while Dinamo Zagreb lost all six of theirs.
Six of Real's 19 goals came in their home victory over the whipping boys of the group: Two for Karim Benzema, two for Jose Callejon, one each for Gonzalo Higuain and Mesut Ozil. It was 5-0 within five minutes into the second half and Real clearly took their foot off the gas thereafter—with Dinamo Zagreb pulling two goals back in the last 10 minutes.
Real made it all the way to the semi-finals, before losing on penalties to Bayern Munich.
11. Brondby 2-6 Manchester United
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Another eight-goal thriller came in 1998-99 season, where Manchester United—en route to winning the Champions League—put six past Brondby in Denmark.
Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane and Dwight Yorke were amongst those on the scoresheet as United ran amok. They would do almost the same to the Danish side back at Old Trafford soon after, winning 5-0 that time after this 6-2 victory.
Needless to say, United progressed from the group stage, Brondby finished bottom.
10. Hamburg 4-4 Juventus
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The 2000-01 season saw a goal-laden draw in Group E as Italian giants Juventus travelled to Germany to face Hamburg.
The match swung back and forth in a ridiculously wayward fashion: Juve led early on, conceded soon after, recovered to take a two-goal lead—and then appeared to fold entirely, conceding three in barely 15 minutes in the second half. The drama still wasn't done as Pippo Inzaghi scored a late penalty, his hat-trick on the day, to leave the game at 4-4.
The draw was no good to either team ultimately; both only won once in the group stage and Hamburg finished third, Juventus fourth.
9. Chelsea 4-4 Liverpool
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English opponents Chelsea and Liverpool traded blows frequently in the Champions League during the mid-to-late 2000s, with this 2009 clash being one of the most memorable of all.
The Reds took a 2-0 lead in at the break at Stamford Bridge, thanks to a Fabio Aurelio free-kick and a Xabi Alonso penalty, before two quick goals after the break pulled Chelsea level. In the final 10 minutes, the Reds scored two more of their own, Dirk Kuyt scoring the latter with seven minutes to go to leave his team needing just one more to progress to the semi-finals. But the Reds were caught on the break, leaving Frank Lampard to score the equaliser in the last minute.
The match finished 4-4 and Chelsea won 7-5 on aggregate, before they went on to lose in the last minute themselves in a semi-final away-goals defeat to Barcelona.
8. Barcelona 7-1 Bayer Leverkusen
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Barcelona and Bayer Leverkusen racked up an aggregate scoreline totalling 12 goals in their 2011-12 round-of-16 clash, with most of them coming in the second leg.
A Lionel Messi-inspired Spanish side tore into their German opponents, taking a 7-0 lead before a very late consolation goal for Leverkusen—with Messi scoring five of them. Cristian Tello scored the other pair.
This wasn't an all-conquering Barça team though, as their run toward another final was halted in the last four by Chelsea, the eventual winners.
7. Manchester United 7-1 Roma
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This game is a relatively rare occurrence: A high-scoring game outside of the group stage. Roma hosted Manchester United in the '06-07 quarter-final first leg, winning 2-1 at home and giving themselves hope of progressing—but a devastating second-leg display from United put paid to that.
Three goals in the opening 20 minutes turned the tie completely and United ran out 7-1 winners thanks to two apiece from Michael Carrick and Cristiano Ronaldo, amongst others.
United went on toward their eventual semi-final exit, Roma departed the scene. Although not the slideshow scene...sorry Roma...
6. Roma 1-7 Bayern Munich
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The most recent game in our 15, this match occurred just a few weeks ago as German champions Bayern Munich took apart Serie A runners-up AS Roma, away from home.
Bayern were five goals up at the break after Arjen Robben (two), Mario Gotze, Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller all found the back of the net, while Franck Ribery and Xherdan Shaqiri added late strikes once Gervinho had reduced the arrears slightly.
A shell-shocked Roma side, to their credit, were far better after the break and if not for Manuel Neuer being in sublime form once more, they could have narrowed the scores considerably further—and this match might have been higher on the list.
5. Liverpool 8-0 Besiktas
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Top of the eight-goal matches on account of it holding a record of its own—the biggest margin of victory in a Champions League game—is Liverpool's dismantling of Besiktas.
The Reds had taken just one point from their first three games and had to mount a big comeback in their 2007-08 group stage, but got that task off to the best possible start as they swept their Turkish opponents aside at Anfield.
Yossi Benayoun scored a hat-trick and there were braces for Peter Crouch and Ryan Babel, with captain Steven Gerrard also on the scoresheet. The Reds won their final two matches too to claim second place, while Besiktas finished bottom. Liverpool went on to reach the semi-finals.
4. PSG 7-2 Rosenborg
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2000-01 again, so another of those "preliminary group stage" fiascos—and another high-scoring game. We're into the nine-goal fixtures now, leading with French side Paris Saint-Germain's 7-2 victory over Norwegian outfit Rosenborg.
Nicolas Anelka scored a brace, Laurent Robert hit a penalty and Peter Luccin was also on the scoresheet for the French team, with Christer George's brace nowhere near enough for RBK to mount a realistic comeback.
The goal-crazy game was 4-2 by half time, with the rest of the strikes coming in the last 15 minutes. PSG finished second, Rosenborg third.
3. Lyon 7-2 Werder Bremen
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Into the top three now and a more recent 7-2 game; French Ligue 1 side Lyon beating German Bundesliga team Werder Bremen in 2004-05.
This game came in a one-sided round-of-16 knockout match. Lyon had already won the first leg 3-0 and wrapped things up with a devastating display in the second leg, taking a three-goal lead by the half-hour mark and showing a relentless clinical edge throughout.
Sylvain Wiltord, Michael Essien and Florent Malouda were all starting and scoring for this impressive French side, who were eventually knocked out on penalties in the quarter-finals.
2. Villarreal 6-3 Aalborg BK
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We're placing this game as the highest of the nine-goal thrillers on account of the goals being slightly more spread out. Spanish side Villarreal scored six but conceded three against their Danish opponents Aalborg in a group-stage game in 2008.
Giuseppe Rossi and Robert Pires were amongst the scorers for the home side, while Joseba Llorente hit a hat-trick too, with Danish international midfielder Thomas Enevoldsen netting one of the strikes in reply.
The win was a crucial one. Villarreal went through in second place, three points ahead of Aalborg.
1. Monaco 8-3 Deportivo La Coruna
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And so to the record high-scoring game, Monaco 8-3 Depor.
Dado Prso was the big hero for the French side, with the Croatian striker hitting no less than four goals in the match—which was played on his birthday. Some present! Jerome Rothen, Ludo Giuly, Jaroslav Plasil and Edouard Cisse all also hit the target, while Diego Tristan (twice) and Lionel Scaloni replied for the Spanish side.
A group-stage match it might have been, but although both teams qualified for the knockouts, it was Monaco who went all the way to the final, losing there 3-0 to Porto.
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