Football is a sport that dates back to medieval times though its early rules make it virtually unrecognisable as the game we know and love today.  Modern football rules began the process of  standardisation in 19th century in Britain and began to be taken up as a winter game at public schools.

This newly created sport proved an instant attraction for the locals and its appeal would become international as it quickly spread across the entire continent.

Today’s football relies on new technologies like VAR which helps make the sport more exciting for the fans and football is of course the most popular sport in the world with an estimate of 3.5 billion fans following it, or in other words, every second person watches football.

This is a fast-paced sport just like horse racing where you have tons of action in minutes. If you are a fan of horse racing make sure you check out the 2021 Saratoga Race Course Racing Schedule for some exciting matches.

That’s why in today’s article we decided to highlight some of the biggest comebacks from professional football matches in history.

Juventus vs Manchester United (Champions League – 1999)

The 1999 Champions League season was full of unbelievable comebacks and this was a particularly memorable match, one that virtually everyone thought was over for the Red Devils when the Italians opened up a 3-1 aggregate lead. The United captain Roy Keane was not one of those people however and he still believed in the impossible.

His goal brought United back to life and provided the impetus for Dwight Yorke and Andrew Cole to add further goals and secure an unlikely win.

Manchester United vs Bayer Munich (Champions League – 1999)

Recovering from one goal down is not that impressive in football, but it is extremely hard to turn a game round if you only have few minutes remaining – and especially in a Champions League Final.

Bayern took the lead in the early minutes of the match through Mario Basler and comfortably held onto this advantage right the way through to stoppage time before Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer dramatically turned the game by scoring two goals in minutes.

Blackpool vs Bolton Wanderers (FA Cup Final – 1953)

People who know their football history will be aware that Blackpool’s victory against Bolton is one of the greatest of comebacks. Bolton led the game 3-1 with just 25 minutes remaining, but Stan Mortensen scored two incredible goals in the space of just a couple of minutes to bring Blackpool back into contention. Then Stanley Matthews dazzled once more by delivering a superb cross from the right wing which Bill Perry duly converted.

It was one of the greatest FA Cup Finals of all time.

Barcelona vs Metz (Cup Winners’ Cup – 1984)

Do you think that a 5-2 lead should be enough to secure a win? Well in most cases it certainly should be, but French side Metz had other ideas in the 57 minutes that remained of their second leg match in the Camp Nou. Somehow they managed to regroup and take control of the tie.

Metz duly scored four unanswered goals to sensationally knock Barcelona out of the competition, only to go on and be eliminated by Dynamo Dresden in the next round.

Real Madrid vs Borussia Monchengladbach (UEFA Cup – 1985)

UEFA recently made the decision to remove the away goals advantage which was a shame as it played a huge role in the drama of European competition over the past four decades. And never more so than in 1985 when Borussia Monchengladbach met Real Madrid in the UEFA Cup. 

In Germany Real Madrid crashed to a demoralising 5-1 defeat in the first leg, but, roared on by a passionate home crowd at the Bernabeu, Madrid managed to secure a 4-0 win and progress to the next round of the competition by the narrowest of margins. 

Indeed Madrid went on to win the competition outright and in doing so became the first club to win back-to-back UEFA Cups.

Gillingham vs Manchester City (Division 2 Play-off Final – 1999)

Back in the days when Manchester City didn’t have the money to spend on the world’s best players, the club was mired in the third tier of the English game which is scarcely imaginable today. Their road to recovery began with that Play Off Final and the manner in which they recovered a two goal deficit  that night at Wembley Stadium.

Gillingham led the match 2-0 as the game drew to a close, however Kevin Horlock and Paul DIckov managed to bring back Manchester level and force extra-time. Extra time was goalless and Manchester City prevailed in the penalty shoot-out to earn them a vital promotion.