Hope for Man City, Chelsea & Spurs – great Champions League comebacks

It was a tough couple of days last week for the English clubs in the Champions League.

Six sides from the Premier League took part in last-16 first-leg ties, but none of them won.

Two of them – Newcastle and Arsenal – secured draws, against Barcelona and Bayer Leverkusen respectively, Liverpool lost 1-0 at Galatasaray, while the other three – Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City – all suffered defeats by three-goal margins.

On Tuesday and Wednesday the second legs take place with Spurs, Chelsea and City all needing something memorable against Atletico Madrid, Paris St-Germain and Real Madrid respectively.

Portuguese side Sporting also begin three goals behind when they entertain Bodo/Glimt after losing in Norway last week.

But there is hope for those sides that are trailing heavily.

Before this season’s last 16, there have been 51 occasions of a team losing the first leg of a Champions League knockout tie by three or more goals. Four of those have progressed to the next round.

Tottenham travelled to Ajax for the second leg of their semi-final trailing 1-0, and things went from bad to worse in Amsterdam when Matthijs de Ligt and Hakim Ziyech put Ajax 3-0 ahead on aggregate before the break.

Spurs needed to score three times without reply to progress on away goals, and were given a glimmer of hope 10 minutes into the second half through Lucas Moura – and it was game on just four minutes later.

Moura pounced on a loose ball in the box after Fernando Llorente’s shot was saved and he curled home to put the hosts on the ropes.

Just 24 hours before Tottenham’s heroics in Amsterdam, Liverpool had overturned their own three-goal deficit.

The Reds’ hopes of forcing their way back into the semi-final after a 3-0 loss to Barcelona at the Nou Camp looked slim, especially with Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino unavailable because of injury.

But Divock Origi got the ball rolling on seven minutes, before the tie really turned in the space of 166 seconds after half-time when substitute Georginio Wijnaldum scored twice.

“Roma have risen from their ruins.”

That iconic line from commentator Peter Drury summed up an incredible night as Roma clinched a memorable comeback to send Barcelona packing in the quarter-finals.

Own goals from Daniele de Rossi and Kostas Manolas helped Barca record a 4-1 win in the first leg at the Nou Camp.

Edin Dzeko’s late goal in Spain gave Roma something to build from and the forward struck early in the return leg to further strengthen their belief.

Arguably the greatest comeback of all, this one is so iconic that it has its very own title in France and Spain – La Remontada (The Comeback).

PSG were clinical at home, winning 4-0, but the Nou Camp sensed something special when Luis Suarez scored after just three minutes in the second leg.

Barcelona were two goals to the good at the break courtesy of a Layvin Kurzawa own goal, but still trailed by two goals on aggregate.

Lionel Messi scored a penalty soon after the restart but Edinson Cavani hit back to silence the home faithful, although it wasn’t the pendulum-swinging moment PSG hoped for.

Barcelona, now trailing 5-3, needed three goals in fewer than 30 minutes to achieve a miracle. Neymar scored a free-kick in the 88th minute to offer further hope, before the Brazilian stroked home a 91st-minute penalty to level the tie at 5-5 on aggregate.

But PSG were still heading through on away goals.

Deportivo La Coruna, currently plying their trade in the second tier of Spanish football, are no longer associated with the Champions League – but they carried out an unforgettable fightback against heavyweight opposition in 2004.

Milan travelled to Spain with a 4-1 lead from the first leg, but Deportivo were not ready to roll over.

Walter Pandiani, who broke the deadlock at the San Siro, got the Spaniards up and running on home soil.

Unlike the first leg when they sat back after taking the lead, Deportivo threw caution to the wind and it paid off as they wiped out Milan’s aggregate advantage in just 43 minutes after goals from Juan Carlos Valeron and Albert Luque.

Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.