The best Champions League games of all time

Ladbrokes looks back at the Champions League's best ever games after a thrilling 2024/25 season concluded with Paris Saint-Germain lifting the trophy for the first time.

The Parisians demolished Inter Milan 5-0 in a one-sided final in Munich but there were plenty of closer games throughout the season, not least Inter's 4-3 win in the second leg against Barcelona.

Many were quick to consider the encounter at the San Siro as one of the best competition has ever seen, sparking memories of other thrillers from years gone by.

Here are the 10 best Champions League games of all time.

We start with this season's semi-final second leg at the San Siro which, after a 3-3 draw in the first leg that could easily have made this list, lived up to the billing with 120 minutes of non-stop action.

Lautaro Martinez and Hakan Calhanoglu gave Inter a commanding 2-0 lead and 5-3 aggregate lead at half-time before Barca stormed back with goals from Eric Garcia and Dani Olmo to level the tie.

Raphinha then thought he had won it for the Catalan club in the 87th minute but 37-year-old Francesco Acerbi scored his first ever Champions League goal in stoppage time to force extra-time before Davide Frattesi sent the Nerazzurri to Munich with the winner in extra-time.

A game bursting with goals, drama and a certain 18-year-old Kylian Mbappe bursting onto the scene when Monaco visited Manchester City in the last 16 first leg in 2017/18.

In what was City's first season under Pep Guardiola, they went 1-0 through Leroy Sane before Monaco hit back through Radamal Falcao's brilliant diving header and a clinical finish from Mbappe.

Willy Caballero the denied Falcao from the penalty spot before Sergio Aguero, earlier harshly denied a penalty and booked for diving, made it 2-2 but minutes later the Etihad was silenced again after a simply brilliant lob from Falcao.

City roared back in the final 20 minutes though with Aguero volleying home, before John Stones and Sane gave the hosts a commanding lead in the tie. The French side would ultimately have the last laugh though as a 3-1 win in Monaco saw them progress on away goals.

The 1998/99 final makes this list mostly for providing the most dramatic and iconic finale's the competition has ever seen.

Bayern Munich spent much of the final against Manchester United in Barcelona in front after going ahead in the sixth minute through Mario Basler's deflected free-kick and it looked as though the German side were heading for another triumph, and that the Red Devils would miss out on the Treble.

But two substitutes in the final few minutes changed the game, and indeed United's history, as Sir Alex Ferguson decided to throw on Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to salvage the game for United, who are hoping to win the Europa League this season.

It proved to be an inspired move as Sheringham turned in Ryan Giggs' mis-hit shot into the bottom corner to level the game and, at the time, seemingly force extra-time.

But fellow substitute Solakjaer had other ideas as from the resulting corner, the Norwegian got a foot to Sheringham's header to complete a famous turnaround in the most dramatic of circumstances.

An AC Milan side who were at the peak of their powers looked to have one foot in the semi-finals after a 4-1 win the San Siro but underdogs Deportivo La Coruna completed a comeback which was undoubtedly ne of the most surprising we have seen.

Walter Pandiani got the first after five minutes before Juan Carlos Valeron headed a second and Albert Luque put the Spanish side ahead courtesy of the away goals rule.

Substitute Gonzalez Frath then made it four as the six-time winners had no response to a brilliant second-leg display by Deportivo.

Another late, late show in added time came in the quarter-final second leg in 2012/13 when Jurgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund controversially beat Manuel Pellegrini's Malaga 3-2 in an exciting battle between two of Europe's rising teams at the time.

After a 0-0 draw in the first leg, Malaga went to the Signal Iduna Park knowing an away goal could be crucial, which they got after 25 minutes when Joaquin found the bottom corner.

Robert Lewandowski levelled the game on the night before half-time but Eliseu looked to have scored an all-important winner in the 82nd minute as the Champions League debutants were on the verge of the semi-finals.

Marco Reus made it 2-2 in the 91st minute but Dortmund were still heading out on away goals, only for defender Felipe Santana to to tap home from an offside position to send the hosts and eventual finalists through.

Man City and Tottenham's thriller is another marred with controversy, with a late VAR call ensuring Spurs' passage through to the semi-finals in 2018/19.

After a 1-0 win for Mauricio Pochettino's side in the first leg, City levelled the tie through Raheem Sterling but Heung-Min Son hit back with two goals to make it 3-1 on aggregate.

Bernardo Silva reduced the deficit with a deflected goal before Sterling tapped in, then Sergio Aguero put them ahead for the first time in tie with half an hour to play.

Just when City looked set to take control, Fernando Llorente made it 4-4 on aggregate despite some contention over whether the ball struck the Spaniard's hand on the way in.

VAR would be heavily involved again as Sterling looked as though he had scored the winner at the death, only for an offside to be spotted in the build-up, with the eventual decision completely changing the mood in the Etihad, leaving Guardiola slumped to the turf and Pochettino jubilant.

There was something about ties between Chelsea and Liverpool during this particular time which seemed to throw up so much entertainment and this quarter-final second leg was one of the best of the lot.

Following a 3-1 win for current Conference League contenders Chelsea at Anfield, Liverpool looked set to be readying one of their famous comebacks when Fabio Aurelio's stunning free-kick and another set-piece from the left-back led to Xabi Alonso levelling the tie before half-time, albeit the Blues were still ahead on away goals.

Didier Drogba forced an error from Pepe Reina to make it 2-1 on the night, with a thunderbolt free-kick by Brazilian defender Alex making it 2-2 within minutes and Frank Lampard putting the hosts ahead.

The action was not done there as Lucas Leiva and Dirk Kuyt gave Liverpool hope of a comeback once again, but Lampard finally extinguished them with a fine finish to set up a semi-final against Barcelona.

Barcelona produced one of the most extraordinary comebacks the competition has seen in 2016/17, recovering from a 4-0 defeat against PSG in the first leg to progress in dramatic circumstances at the Camp Nou.

Luis Suarez, a Layvin Kurzawa own goal and Lionel Messi's penalty ensured an unthinkable 'remontada' was on, but many thought Edinson Cavani had put the tie out of reach when he slammed into make it 5-3 in the tie just before the hour mark.

But with two minutes of normal time to play, Barca forward Neymar came alive with a brilliant free-kick before tucking home a penalty to make it 5-5 on aggregate in added time.

The hosts still needed another goal and Neymar was heavily involved again, cutting inside to float the ball in for Sergi Roberto to score a famous winner.

Having already come through a classic against City, Spurs, who are another in contention to win the Europa League this season, were ready to go through the ringer all over again as they staged an extraordinary second-half comeback to beat Ajax and reach the final.

Erik ten Hag's exciting side packed with young stars won 1-0 in the first leg and looked out of reach in the first half of the second leg when Matthijs de Ligt and Hakim Ziyech made it 3-0 in the tie.

But after staring at the brink of elimination, Lucas Moura wrote himself into Spurs folklore with a stunning hat-trick, scoring two in four minutes before the hour mark and completing his treble in added time to stun most of the crowd inside the Yohan Cruyff Arena.

Liverpool's miracle in Istanbul will forever be immortalised as the greatest final in the history of the Champions League.

The Premier League side, who had finished down in fifth domestically, were huge underdogs against Carlo Ancelotti's star-studded Italians and looked set for an embarrassment when Kaka led Milan to a 3-0 lead at half-time in the Turkish capital.

But Steven Gerrard lifted his boyhood club out of the mire with an inspirational display of his own, heading early in the second half to reduce the deficit, with Vladimir Smicer making it 3-2 before Liverpool's skipper won a penalty for Xabi Alonso to convert in what was a crazy six minutes in the second half.

An uneventful extra-time followed as goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek made himself the hero in the penalty shoot-out, dancing on the line to keep out Andrea Pirlo and Andriy Shevchenko's spot-kicks and secure an unlikely triumph for the Reds.

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