Rise of backward teams in European football

 

                “Leicester City! Leicester City are the champions of England.”

-       Peter Drury, May 2016

The odds of Leicester winning the Premier League were 5000/1 ahead of the 2015-16 season, but they won the league by a convincing margin of 10 points. Maybe this was the greatest story in the footballing world in the last decade but there are more teams like Leicester who, against all the odds, performed brilliantly in the big stages.

 

European Championships

1. Greece Stun Portugal

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                First of all, we focus on the Euros. In 2004, Greece qualified for the Euros after 24 years. They went to Portugal with the hope of qualifying for the second round at best, considering that they were in the same group as Portugal, Spain, Russia. They started off by beating the hosts 2-1 before drawing with Spain (1-1) and losing 1-2 against Russia. Greece(4Pts) got through as group runners up after Portugal(6Pts) and just ahead of Spain(4Pts) as they scored more goals.

In the quarter finals they faced the defending champions France consisting of Zidane, Henry, Vieira and won by 1-0. Then in the semis, Greece defeated favorites Czech Republic 1-0 via a Silver Goal to progress to the final. Greece faced off against Portugal again in the final and all football fans around the world were thinking ‘Surely lightning won’t strike twice’. But that’s what actually happened. Greek forward Angelos Charisteas scored the winner from a corner with thirty minutes to play.

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This was a memorable tournament for Greece and in general football fans who love to see an underdog go all the way.

2. Iceland’s Remarkable Journey

                Iceland made their first appearance in a major tournament in 2016’s European Championships. They booked their place in the Euros as Qualifying Group A runners up behind Czech Republic. In the qualifying round they defeated Netherlands both home and away. In the finals of the tournament, Iceland started by drawing 1-1 with Portugal.

 

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They defeated one of the favorites England 2-1 to shock all football fans. Their fairy tale ended after losing to France 5-2. After this tournament they also qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia. A truly golden period for Iceland.

 

UEFA Champions League

                UCL is the most popular tournament in club football. Every season many clubs not named Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, FC Bayern, AC Milan etc. punch above their weight. We list a few of the famous journeys by such clubs.

 

 

1.  Mourinho Masterclass In 2004

               

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The 2004 Champions League final was contested between two underdogs of that season, Mourinho’s Porto and Deschamps’s Monaco. These teams defeated Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea, Deportivo combined. But in the final Porto won by 3-0 quite convincingly in the end. Although Porto was and still is one of the biggest clubs in Portugal, nobody really expected them to win the champions league under, relatively unknown then, Jose Mourinho.

Monaco’s run was also very impressive but just they just fell short in the final and missed the chance to be the second French team ever to win the champions league.

2. Young Ajax Stun Europe

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In 2018-19, people would look at the Ajax side as a bunch of youths trying to take on Europe’s best. Nobody really gave them that importance, more so after their 1-2 home defeat against Real Madrid in the Round of 16. But they came back in spectacular fashion and knocked the three-time reigning champions out of the competition by beating them 4-1 at Santiago Bernabeau. Then they faced Juventus, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored a hat-trick to knock Real’s city rivals Atletico in the previous round. The first leg was a 1-1 draw. In the second leg, after Ronaldo’s opener, Juve looked comfortable to go through, but Ajax’s 19-year-old captain Matthijs De Ligt inspired them to win the game 2-1 by scoring the winner and putting up a stellar defensive performance. Ajax were through to the semi-finals where they faced off against Tottenham, another side who also impressed under Mauricio Pochettino. They beat Manchester City in the previous round with VAR drama in the final seconds of the tie. However, despite Ajax went 3-0 up against an upbeat Spurs side with 45-minutes of the tie remaining, a Brazilian Lucas Moura came to turn the tie in favor of Spurs, who were missing their talisman Harry Kane due to injury. Moura scored a second half hat-trick in the second leg to put Spurs in their first UEFA Champions League final, where they lost to Liverpool. Although Ajax and Spurs did not win the trophy, they surely won many fans’ hearts.

3. The Tale of Two Cities

      

          

The story of two clubs from two different cities with no history at all arising to compete against Europe’s finest is quite interesting. One club is RB Leipzig of Germany, who were non-existent even in the last decade and the other is PSG, who, despite being a strong domestic force, has no achievements in Europe. The takeover of this clubs by very rich owners paved the way of their success story in Europe. RB Leipzig has already been challenging Bayern and Dortmund in Germany with a very large squad of talented individuals. Whereas at PSG there is superstar galore. Neymar, Mbappe, Di Maria all these names where recruited with only one thing in mind, European glory. Their journey to the Champions League final in 2020 is the kind of result they want consistently. In the same sentence we can also put the name of Manchester City. After the Qatari takeover, they have become a strong force domestically but are still trying to settle in Europe.

4. Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid

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Atletico Madrid were fighting for staying in the Primera Division in Spain a few years ago, but Diego Simeone has transformed them to an elite force in Europe. They also ended Real-Barca’s duopoly in LaLiga by winning it in 2014 after drawing the last game at the Nou Camp. They fell just short in two Champions League finals, both against Real Madrid in 2014 and 2016. Atletico also won two Europa League titles in the 2010’s. This team’s strength is the rock-hard mentality, that’s what makes them very hard to beat, which was perfectly demonstrated in their victory against the defending champions Liverpool at Anfield in UCL 2020. But there seems to be a way to beat them in Europe, have Cristiano in your team.