Six of the best glorious failures in football: Liverpool, Man United, Celtic and more
Liverpool may be out of the Europa League to Zenit, but they can take heart from their second leg efforts, falling just short of overturning a 2-0 loss in Russia with a 3-1 win at Anfield, having gone a goal down early in the return.
Here are six of the best glorious failures from the world of football…
Arsenal 3-0 AC Milan, Champions League last 16, second leg
6 March 2012
The Gunners were embarrassed in the first leg, losing 4-0 at the San Siro, and weren't given a hope for the return at the Emirates. But the Arsenal fans had the Champions League quarter-final carrot dangled in front of them thanks to first-half goals from Laurent Koscielny, Tomas Rosicky and Robin Van Persie (remember him?). With a whole 45 minutes to play, it seemed the impossible could happen. But the carrot was painfully taken away as they failed to find the net in the second half, and exited the tournament 4-3 on aggregate.
Scotland 1-1 Yugoslavia
1974 World Cup
22 June 1974
This list could have been populated by Scotland's glorious failures over the years. The most famous is perhaps their 1978 3-2 win over the Dutch and that Archie Gemmill goal, neith of which stopped Scotland crashing out of the World Cup, but 1974 was equally painful as Scotland made history by being the first nation to be knocked out of the World Cup finals without losing a game. They opened the tournament with a 2-0 win over Zaire, followed by a 0-0 draw with world champions Brazil in which Billy Bremner incredibly blew a goal-scoring chance from centimetres out. In their final group game against Yugoslavia it all came down to goal difference. Scotland drew 1-1 but Brazil beat Zaire 3-0, meaning the samba boys went through.
Liverpool 2-0 Paris Saint-Germain
Cup Winners' Cup 1996/97 semi-final, second leg
24 April 1997
Liverpool have had their fair share of victorious comebacks in Europe, but they never won the old Cup Winner's Cup and the 1997 semi proved to be their last chance to win the trophy. After getting battered 3-0 in Paris, Roy Evans' side came close to a remarkable comeback with goals from Robbie Fowler and Mark Wright, pummelling the French team on home turf, but like the 2013 side against Zenit, the Reds just couldn't find that extra goal.
Motherwell 2-1 Celtic
Last day of the Scottish Premier League season
22 May 2005
Affectionately known as 'Helicopter Sunday' by Rangers fans, and not so affectionately known as 'Helicopter Sunday' by Celtic fans. The Hoops went into the last day of the SPL season in 2005 two points ahead of Rangers. A win for Celtic at Motherwell would hand them the title, no matter what Rangers did at Hibernian. Celtic went 1-0 up through Chris Sutton and all was looking rosy, the helicopter carrying the SPL trophy heading to Fir Park for Martin O'Neill's side to hold aloft. Nacho Novo put Rangers 1-0 ahead at Hibs, but Celtic were looking safe with five minutes left to play. But Scott MacDonald scored twice for Motherwell in the final two minutes to make the helicopter pilot earn his pay by u-turning to Edinburgh to deliver the trophy to Alex McLeish's Rangers team.
Manchester United 4-3 Real Madrid
Champions League quarter-final, second leg
23 April 2003
Remembered as one of the greatest games at Old Trafford and rightly so, it had everything. Big name players, bucket loads of goals, and fans of both sides and neutrals being kept on the edge of their seats. Real had won 3-1 at the Bernabeu in the first-leg and despite a glimmer of hope for Fergie thanks to the away goal, the Galacticos of Ronaldo (the original one), Zidane and Figo were expected to be too much for United, even at Old Trafford. Ronaldo was the star with a hat-trick for Real, putting United 1-3 down (and 2-6 on aggregate) mid-way through the second half. The Red Devils provided a stunning finish, however, with two David Beckham goals and an Ivan Helguera own goal giving United victory on the night.
Scotland 2-3 Spain
Euro 2012 qualifiers
12 October 2010
Apologies Scotland fans, but we're ending with another of your many glorious failures. Against possibly the greatest international team to play the game, Scotland looked on course for an embarrassing loss when Spain went 2-0 ahead after 55 minutes with goals from David Villa and Andres Iniesta. What followed was classic Scotland. Steven Naismith hit the back of the net with a diving header before a Gerard Pique own goal had Hampden rocking with the possibility of beating the world champions, not to mention the prospect of being in a strong position to qualify for Euro 2012. It wasn't to be for the Tartan Army though, as Fernando Llorente tapped in a winner following a Stephen McManus blunder.
It'll happen one day Scotland fans!