Two losses out of two? There's still hope ...
Monday, October 5, 2015
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UEFA.com looks at the probabilities of teams progressing on each of the possible points tallies after two games and looks at the six who made it after starting with a pair of defeats.
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Arsenal, Shakhtar Donetsk, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Malmö and Maccabi Tel-Aviv have the unwanted tally of zero points from two UEFA Champions League games – but their hopes have not completely died.
This is the 13th season since the current UEFA Champions League format of eight groups leading to a knockout round of 16 was introduced in 2003/04. In the first 12 campaigns, 68 teams lost their opening two matches; yet of those, six still made it through to the next stage, one actually topping their group.
Our graphic explains how many sides have gone through or been eliminated after having each of the six possible points' totals following matchday two – while beneath we chronicle the six clubs that shook off the worst possible start to earn a knockout berth.
These are the six teams that recovered from losing their first two games, while 62 failed to ...
2005/06: Werder Bremen
After losing at home to Barcelona and then 2-1 at Panathinaikos, Bremen went on to draw at Udinese before beating the Italian and Greek clubs at home to finish second behind Barcelona. Bremen were eliminated on away goals by Juventus in the round of 16.
2006/07: Internazionale Milano
Defeated 1-0 at Sporting CP and 2-0 at home by Bayern München, Inter revived their campaign with back-to-back victories over Spartak Moskva. They overcame Sporting at home and lastly drew with group winners Bayern. Valencia pipped them on away goals in the round of 16.
2007/08: Olympique Lyonnais
After Lyon crashed 3-0 at Barcelona and at home to Rangers, it seemed all over. However, six points from the double-header with Stuttgart transformed their fortunes and they drew 2-2 with group victors Barcelona before a decisive 3-0 win away to Rangers. Manchester United edged out Lyon 2-1 on aggregate in the round of 16.
2008/09: Panathinaikos
Few would have had Panathinaikos clinching their group after going down 2-0 at home to Inter and 3-1 at Anorthosis Famagusta. A 2-2 home draw with Werder Bremen did not really help, but Panathinaikos won 3-0 in Germany and 1-0 at Inter before overcoming Anorthosis 1-0 to become the only team in this era to lose their opening two fixtures and top their group. They fell 3-2 on aggregate to Villarreal in the round of 16.
2010/11: Marseille
OM were beaten 1-0 at home by Spartak Moskva and 2-0 at Chelsea, lying six points adrift of the top two after those games, just as Malmö and Shakhtar currently are. However, a 1-0 home success over Žilina was followed by a 7-0 triumph in Slovakia, taking Marseille level with Spartak, whom they beat 3-0 away on matchday five to seal progress. An ensuing 1-0 scalp of Chelsea was not enough for first place, and like Lyon three years earlier, unseeded Marseille succumbed 2-1 to Manchester United in the last 16.
2012/13: Galatasaray
United downed Galatasaray to open the group and the Turkish side then lost 2-0 at home to Braga. But a Burak Yılmaz goal ensured a 1-1 home draw with CFR Cluj and the striker's hat-trick made it 3-1 to Galatasaray in Romania. Burak did it again to defeat United 1-0 and equalised at Braga to set up a 2-1 Galatasaray win and second place. Galatasaray then did what none of the previous five teams were able to, ousting Schalke 4-3 on aggregate in the round of 16 before yielding 5-3 overall against Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.