Liverpool travel to Bergamo this Thursday knowing they need another famous European night to keep their hopes of lifting the Europa League trophy alive.
The Reds trail 3-0 to Atalanta after the Italian side’s clinical performance at Anfield, handing them a first home defeat in over a year.
This was followed by another torrid home loss with Crystal Palace walking out 1-0 winners three days later, meaning Manchester City will likely win the Premier League.
Now Liverpool’s best hope of giving manager Jurgen Klopp a fairy tale send-off is by conjuring up another special European comeback.
The comebacks from the past have given us memorable moments, from Gerrard’s screamer against Olympiacos, to Alexander-Arnold’s quick corner.
But which of those special nights was the best? Here we rank Liverpool’s greatest European comebacks.
5) Liverpool 3-2 Club Bruges, UEFA Cup Final, 1976
Maybe the birthplace of Liverpool’s astonishing European comebacks.
The UEFA Cup Final (which is now the Europa League) was played over two-legs back when The Reds lifted the trophy in 1976.
Liverpool found themselves 2-0 down at Anfield in the first leg, but three goals in six minutes from Ray Kennedy, Jimmy Case and Kevin Keegan put Bob Paisley’s side ahead.
The Reds travelled to Belgium in the second leg with their 3-2 lead and managed to hold on with a 1-1 draw to lift the cup.
4) Liverpool 3-1 Olympiacos, Champions League, 2004
Liverpool had struggled in the group stages of the 2004/05 Champions League, losing against Monaco and Olympiacos away from home.
Those defeats meant that The Reds had to win by two clear goals to qualify for the knockouts when Olympiacos travelled to Anfield in the final group match.
Liverpool’s job was made harder when Brazilian ace Rivaldo’s free kick sailed into the top corner to make it 1-0.
But The Reds fought back with goals from Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Neil Mellor to make it 2-1 and put them one goal off a famous comeback.
That goal was scored by who else but Steven Gerrard.
The Liverpool captain thumped home one of his greatest ever goals to send the Anfield crowd into raptures and put The Reds into the last 16.
3) Liverpool 4-3 Borussia Dortmund, Europa League, 2016
The Reds faced Borussia Dortmund in the quarter finals of the Europa League back in 2016.
With the tie nicely poised after a 1-1 draw in Germany, Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp just had to beat his old side Dortmund at Anfield.
The Reds had a nightmare start after goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put them 2-0 down after just nine minutes.
Divock Origi pulled one back for Liverpool, but Marco Reus restored Dortmund’s two-goal advantage on 57 minutes to make it 3-1.
Jurgen Klopp’s side still needed three goals – due to the away goal rule – to qualify with less than 25 minutes to go.
But a shot into the bottom corner from Philipe Coutinho and a header from Mamadou Sakho put The Reds on the verge of the unthinkable.
In the 91st minute Dejan Lovren rose above everyone to head home Liverpool’s fourth in front of the Kop, sending the crowd wild and securing a memorable night in The Reds’ European history.
2) Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona, Champions League, 2019
The Reds had it all to do after a torrid night in Barcelona, where Lionel Messi’s free kick sealed a 3-0 win for his side.
Liverpool travelled back home for the second leg with perhaps not even them believing they could comeback from their heavy defeat.
Roared on by a relentless Anfield crowd, Divock Origi’s goal after seven minutes sparked hope around Anfield that another famous night was on the cards.
An injury to Andy Robertson meant that Gini Wijnaldum entered the pitch, he announced his arrival with two goals in two minutes in the second half to send the home crowd into a frenzy.
With Barcelona shell shocked that their 3-0 lead had been destroyed, it seemed only a matter of time until Liverpool added a fourth to crown one of the greatest nights in the club’s history.
What no one expected was Trent Alexander-Arnold to catch the Barcelona defence off guard with a quickly taken corner.
The young right-back surprised everyone when he whipped the ball along the floor to Origi to hammer home the winner, putting The Reds into the Champions League Final.
1) Liverpool 3-3 AC Milan, Champions League Final, 2005
Liverpool were torn apart in the first half by Carlo Ancelotti’s star-studded AC Milan team featuring the likes of Kaka, Seedorf, Pirlo and Shevchenko.
The Reds were 3-0 down after a goal from Paolo Maldini and a brace from Hernan Crespo left them with it all to do in the second half.
Captain Steven Gerrard inspired a second half fight back when he headed home and roared the Liverpool fans in Istanbul on.
The fans responded and so did the players, with Vladimir Smicer firing in a long-range strike moments later to give The Reds hope.
Liverpool fan’s hearts were in their mouths when Xabi Alonso missed his penalty after Gennaro Gattuso brought Gerrard down.
Alonso fired home the rebound to send The Reds supporters wild and force the game into extra time.
With the tie still level at the end of extra time, all hopes of victory were with goalkeeper Jersey Dudek.
The Liverpool keeper made a number of stunning saves before pushing Shevchenko’s spot kick around the post to give The Reds a famous 3-2 victory on penalties.
The “Miracle of Istanbul” was born.
(Featured image under ALAMY license)
