Rate it!

26 votes

Our daily countdown continues with an incredible comeback by German giants Bayern Munich.

71. 1976 Bundesliga VfL Bochum 5-6 Bayern Munich

Quite simply one of the greatest comebacks of all time. How else can a game in which a side came back from four goals down be described? Bayern suffered a nightmare start to the German league game at the Ruhrstadion, finding themselves 3-0 down before half-time. That soon became four as the hosts netted another after the break, and that should have been that. But Bochum were not counting on Bayern's not-so-secret weapons - Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Gerd Muller, two of the finest players to grace the planet. The pair combined not only to wipe out the deficit, but even take a 5-4 lead - all in a mere 20 minutes. Bochum equalised with 10 minutes remaining but Bayern were not to be denied and they snatched a late winner through Uli Hoeness as time ran out.

72. 2001 FA Cup fifth round replay - Southampton 3-4 Tranmere Rovers

To fully appreciate the scale of this epic comeback, you have to remember it came at a time when Southampton were an established Premiership force, while Tranmere were in the process of getting relegated to the third tier. John Aldridge's side reached the last 16 with a remarkable 3-0 win away to Everton, and produced even greater heroics to send Southampton packing. After a goalless draw at The Dell, Southampton eased into a three-goal advantage in the first half of the replay; Hassan Kachloul fired in a screamer before Jo Tessem and Dean Richards struck from close range. Just before the hour mark, Paul Rideout reduced the arrears with a predatory strike, then converted a close range header before scrambling an equaliser. Seven minutes remained when Stuart Barlow bundled home the winner to complete a classic FA Cup giant-killing. Rovers played Liverpool in the sixth round but lost 4-2.

73. 1984/85 First Division - QPR 5-5 Newcastle

Proof positive that Newcastle were capable of kamikaze football long before Kevin Keegan became manager. Sitting in the Toon dug-out for this thriller was none other than Jack Charlton, who went on to make the Republic of Ireland the most dourly effective side in international football. Not today. Newcastle blazed into a 4-0 half-time lead through Malcolm McDonald and a 24-minute hat-trick from an inspired Chris Waddle. With a half-time rollicking from Alan Mullery still ringing in their ears, QPR pulled goals back through Gary Bannister and Simon Stainrod, before future Hoops manager John Gregory made it 4-3. Kenny Wharton appeared to make it safe for Newcastle with a close range finish six minutes from time. But Steve Wicks headed QPR back in contention before Gary Micklewhite scrambled a stoppage-time equaliser. Chalrton's verdict: "A total embarrassment, absolutely diabolical."

74. 1989 UEFA Cup - Antwerp 4-3 Levski Sofia

Comebacks do not get more dramatic - or matches more innocuous - than Levski's UEFA Cup second-round clash with Antwerp in 1989. The Bulgarian champions were cruising at 3-1 up as the match entered injury time, Petar Mihtarski's goal looking to have dashed the Belgian side's European hopes; that was before a recovery which would make most Hollywood directors cringe with scepticism. Those who remained in the 10,000-seater Bosuilstadion in Antwerp were rewarded for their perseverance tenfold as former Tottenham striker Nico Claesen grabbed what looked to be a 91st-minute consolation strike then swiftly doubled his tally with an incredible equaliser in the 94th minute. Just as the final whistle was about to sound, up stepped new signing Raphael Quaranta to clinch a 97th-minute winner - and complete a most staggering comeback.

75. Euro 2008 - Turkey 3-2 Czech Republic

This was a knock-out tie in all but name - the teams went into their final Group A game with identical records, meaning a draw would have resulted in penalties. But they were not needed as three late Turkish goals turned the game on its head. Strikes from Jan Koller and Jaroslav Plasil appeared to have the Czechs cruising towards the last eight. Arda Turan pulled one back with 15 minutes to go before a monumental Petr Cech clanger. The Chelsea keeper dropped the ball into the path of Nihat Kahveci, who levelled from close range three minutes from time. Penalties loomed, until Nihat swivelled at the edge of the box and smacked the ball in off the underside of the bar. There was still time for Turkey goalkeeper Volkan Demirel to get sent off for a push on Jan Koller; Tuncay Sanli went in goal during stoppage time, but the Czechs could not beat him. For their next trick, Turkey left it even later, equalising against Croatia with the last kick of extra-time and winning on penalties.

76. 2006 UEFA Cup - Middlesbrough 4-1 Basel

On Teesside this is known as Middlesbrough's Istanbul moment. Eleven months after Liverpool's heroic comeback to win the European Cup, Boro came back from the abyss to seal a place in their first European semi-final. Trailing 2-0 from the first leg in Switzerland, Eduardo's 23rd-minute goal left Steve McClaren's men needing four goals to progress. Mark Viduka pulled one back before half-time, added a second 12 minutes after the interval then Daniel Majstorovic was sent off for Basel. Then in a rare glimpse of tactical insight, McClaren introduced Massimo Maccarone in a four-pronged attack with fellow substitute Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink plus Viduka and Yakubu. Hasselbaink's scorcher 11 minutes from time made it 3-3 before Fabio Rochemback's shot was only parried and Maccarone squeezed home the rebound in the final minute to send the disbelieving Riverside fans into raptures. Remarkably Boro repeated the feat in the semi-final against Steaua Bucharest, again needing four goals to progress with Maccarone completing the comeback a minute from time. They got stuffed in the final by Sevilla and McClaren got the England job - the rest is history.

77. 1998 Ligue 1 - Marseille 5-4 Montpellier

It was the third game of the French season and Marseille, coached by Rolland Courbis, had splashed the cash on Robert Pires, Florian Maurice and Christophe Dugarry (pictured in action that day). Ibrahima Bakayoko, who flopped at Everton the season after, opened the scoring on 15 minutes, poking the ball past Stephane Porato as Marseille's defence failed to deal with the pace of Montpellier's forwards. Laurent Robert made it 2-0 four minutes later, racing clear of the one-paced Laurent Blanc to latch on to a long ball and slide it into the bottom right. It only took four more minutes for the visitors to be 3-0 up, soon-to-be Hibernian midfielder Franck Sauzee's free-kick from wide drifting past the hapless, ball-watching Porato into the bottom right. On 34 minutes, it was 4-0 thanks to Bakayoko's powerful finish after he beat Marseille's offside trap to sprint away from a surprisingly wooden William Gallas. They game-turning moment was the introduction of mercurial forward Dugarry early in the second half. Just after the hour mark, Blanc pumped a hopeful long ball down the right which Dugarry controlled and crossed perfectly on to the head of Maurice, who powered it into the bottom left. 1-4. Three minutes later, Dugarry halved the deficit with a header of his own, from a Pires free-kick wide right, and on 71 minutes the France star scored another header, after Bruno Martini was stranded in no-man's land at a corner. The game was level with six minutes left, when veteran midfielder Eric Roy smashed the ball past Martini after a wonderful knock-down from Fabrizio Ravanelli. There was a sense of inevitability about Marseille's winner, deep in injury time, after Pires was crudely brought down in the box by Sauzee. Blanc stepped up and rounded-off a freak match regarded by many in France as the best comeback in history.

78. 1950 World Cup - USA 1-0 England

England were undoubtedly one of the best teams in the world and went into the match in Belo Horizonte with a post-war record of 23 wins, four defeats and three draws. The USA were semi-pros with full-time jobs who had lost their last seven matches, leading boss Bill Jeffrey to say "we have no chance". England left out Stanley Matthews, regarded as the best player in the world but who had missed the three warm-up games and the first group match against Chile, which England won 2-0. But they still had Stan Mortensen and Tom Finney and were expected to win with ease. Despite dominating, England failed to score. After 12 minutes they had six shots on target, two hitting the woodwork, while the USA managed one on target on 25 minutes. England kept pressing but wasteful finishing and good goalkeeping from Frank Borghi kept it level until Haitian striker Joe Gaetjens, controversially playing despite not having US citizenship, stole in ahead of Bert Williams to nod home a 37th-minute free-kick by Walter Bahr. The second half saw the US play with more confidence. Gradually though England took control. But, despite chances for Stan Mortensen and Jimmy Mullen, and a rejected penalty appeal, they were unable to equalise. Both teams crashed out before the knockout stage - only group winners Spain qualified for the final phase - and the match barely received any press coverage the next day due to the USA's lack of interest in football and the assumption in England that the 1-0 score-line was a typing error.

79. 2001 Premier League- Tottenham Hotspur 3-5 Manchester United

It's fair to say that, on the rare occasions that United lose in Europe, heaven help the next team they play. Coming off the back of a 2-1 defeat at Deportivo la Coruna in midweek, Alex Ferguson's misery looked set to continue at White Hart Lane. A Dean Richards header and a strike from Les Ferdinand had Spurs 2-0 up with a quarter of the match gone. When Christian Ziege's header beat Fabien Barthez just before half-time it seemed that there was no way back for the champions. The infamous hairdryer must have blown at full blast during the break, because United came out in truly vengeful mood. Andy Cole's diving header right at the start of the half unsettled a buoyant Spurs, and when Laurent Blanc rose to head home his only Premier League goal just before the hour-mark, Glenn Hoddle's men were visibly shaken. In a final 20-minute blitz orchestrated by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ruud van Nistelrooy equalised and Juan Sebastian Veron struck to seal the victory. David Beckham added gloss to the win with a low drive three minutes from time to round off another incredible United comeback.

80. 1954 World Cup semi-final - Hungary 4-2 Uruguay

Defending champions Uruguay faced off against the mighty Hungarians, arguably the best team in the world at the time. Both sides were without their star players - Hungary without the talismanic Ferenc Puskas, Uruguay missing centre-half and captain Obdulio Varela. Hungary took a 2-0 lead through Zoltan Czibor and Nandor Hidegkuti in the first half, and for a long time it looked as though that would be that. But Uruguay showed the fighting spirit for which they were so famed by hitting back after the break thanks to a brace from Juan Eduardo Hohberg, the second coming just three minutes from time. Hohberg only ever scored once more for his country. Juan Schiaffino hit a post for Uruguay in extra-time but, after defender Victor Andrade went off injured, Sandor Kocsis struck twice in the second period to book their place in the final, where they lost 3-2 to West Germany. If current world champions Italy meet Spain next summer in South Africa, we can only hope the encounter is half as good as this match was.

Eurosport