Leicester City’s Premier League title win last term will go down as one of the all-time great underdog stories, but they will be looking to top it in the Champions League this season.
The Foxes are currently top of Group G and taking their debut European tour in their stride, having recorded three wins and a draw in their opening four fixtures and yet to concede a goal.
The fairy-tale seems to be continuing for Claudio Ranieri after they followed up their 5000-1 league success on the big stage, dispatching Club Brugges 3-0 on the opening day in a manner that wouldn’t look out of place among Europe’s seasoned competitors.
As they stand on the brink of the second round (a win at home to Brugges tonight guarantees City top spot regardless of the result between FC Porto and FC Copenhagen), they already look like recording one of the all-time great European underdog stories.
But who else has managed to defy the odds in the most prestigious club competition in the world? Here are five other incredible underdog Champions League runs.
AS MONACO, 2004
We start off with Monaco, who surprised Europe with an incredible run in the 2003-04 campaign.
The French side topped a group featuring Deportivo La Coruna (who made the semis) and PSV Eindhoven before seeing off Lokomotiv Moscow at the knockout stage.
They then managed a historic comeback victory against Real Madrid, rallying back from 5-2 on aggregate with only 45 minutes to play thanks to a Ludovic Giuly double and a goal from ex-Madrid striker Fernando Morientes.
Morientes was again on top form in the semi-finals, scoring in both legs against Chelsea and ending the tournament as top scorer with nine goals.
APOEL NICOSIA, 2012
APOEL Nicosia made history in 2012 by becoming the first Cypriot team to ever reach a Champions League quarter-final.
APOEL actually topped a group featuring Zenit St Petersburg and FC Porto – not bad for a side that had to win two qualifying ties to even make it to that stage.
Their greatest success however came in the knockout stages. The Cypriots were 1-0 down to Lyon after the first leg but grabbed an early goal in the return tie and took the match to penalties, where they eventually won 4-3.
Unfortunately the quarter finals were too much for APOEL, who were soundly beaten 8-2 on aggregate by Real Madrid.
DYNAMO KIEV, 1999
Dynamo Kiev haven’t seen a huge amount of European success since the turn of the millennium, with last season’s second round exit to Manchester City the best they’ve produced in 17 years.
In 1999 however, the Ukrainian side made it all the way to the semi-finals and even looked certainties for a place in the ultimate round at one point.
50 minutes into their first leg against Bayern Munich, an Andriy Shevchenko-led side were 3-1 up against Bayern Munich. Unfortunately, the Germans levelled the game at 3-3 and won the return leg 1-0, ending a famous underdog story.
Shevchenko tied for the Golden Boot with Manchester United’s Dwight Yorke in a run that also saw them defeat reigning-champions Real Madrid 3-1 on aggregate.
LIVERPOOL, 2005
No list of historic runs would be complete without the incredible story of Liverpool’s 2005 success over AC Milan.
The Reds might not seem like underdogs – in terms of history they are the biggest club of the five on this list by some way – but the manner of their Champions League run was incredible.
Liverpool were minutes away from being knocked out at the group stages, with Neil Mellor and Steven Gerrard scoring late goals against Olympiakos to put them through.
The Reds then saw off Bayer Leverkusen and Juventus before facing a Chelsea side dominant in Europe and triumphing 1-0 on aggregate courtesy of a controversial Luis Garcia goal.
And of course, then came the Miracle of Istanbul – one of the most incredible comebacks the beautiful game has ever witnessed.
FC PORTO, 2004
While Liverpool’s win will always be remembered, the greatest underdog success has to be when Jose Mourinho led FC Porto to the Champions League trophy the year before.
The Portuguese made a name for himself with a stubborn side that saw off Manchester United, Lyon and Deportivo La Coruna before comfortably beating Monaco 3-0 in the final.
Porto had one solitary European success before that and their best Champions League performance prior was a semi-final a decade before Mourinho’s triumph.
It also signified how important a strong defence was in the modern era, with the likes of Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira inspiring some incredible rearguard action – only months before Greece repeated a similar underdog success at Euro 2004.
