Rangers beware: Spurs, Juve, Ajax have blown similar Europa leads
Tottenham, Juventus and Ajax would all urge Rangers to be wary of relying on a two-goal lead in the Europa League.
After Rangers’ superb 4-2 win over Borussia Dortmund in their Europa League first-leg clash, the Gers would be wise to remain on their guard. Here are the nine occasions that a two-goal advantage has been blown in the Europa League era.
Quarter-finals 2013/14
Basel 3-0 Valencia
Valencia 5-0 Basel (AET)
Valencia win 5-3 on aggregate
Valencia became the first team to overcome a three-goal deficit in the Europa League era when they brought Basel back to the Mestalla and blew them away over 120 minutes.
A Matias Delgado brace and Valentin Stocker’s injury-time strike allowed Basel to put one foot into the semis but Valencia reduced the deficit to one by half-time in the second leg through Paco Alcacer and Edu Vargas.
Alcacer levelled the tie in the 70th minute before Basel imploded in extra-time. The Swiss side were reduced to nine men as Alcacer completed his hat-trick and Juan Bernat rounded off a stunning comeback.
Round of 16, 2020/21
Tottenham 2-0 Dinamo Zagreb
Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 Tottenham (AET)
Dinamo Zagreb win 3-2 on aggregate
Jose Mourinho’s Spurs p*ssed away a two-goal advantage earned for them by Harry Kane’s first-leg brace to pass up a place in last season’s quarter-finals.
Even at half-time in Zagreb, Tottenham looked comfortable. But Miroslav Orsic’s second-half brace took the tie to extra-time, when he completed his hat-trick to dump Spurs out.
“Diabolical,” said Glenn Hoddle; “a disgrace,” admitted Hugo Lloris. Mourinho accepted that “Spurs were beaten on attitude” and, for Dave Tickner, it was the beginning of the end.
Spurs and Mourinho bring the worst out of each other
Round of 32, 2019/20
Sporting Lisbon 3-1 Istanbul Basaksehir
Istanbul Basaksehir 4-1 Sporting Lisbon
Basaksehir win 5-4 on aggregate
Sporting were cruising into the round of 16 in 2020 when they went 3-0 up inside 51 minutes in Lisbon. But Edin Visca’s second-half penalty gave the Turks something to cling to.
Sporting, though, remained in the ascendency as the 90th minute ticked over in Istanbul. Then Visca struck in the 91st minute to level the tie, and again in the 119th minute to send Basaksehir through.
Quarter-finals, 2018-19
Benfica 4-2 Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 Benfica
Frankfurt win on away goals
Joao Felix’s hat-trick and a goal from Ruben Neves gave Benfica a two-goal cushion over 10-man Frankfurt after the first leg in Lisbon.
But a goal in either half from Filip Kostic and Sebastian Rode saw the hosts progress in Germany, setting up a semi-final tie with Chelsea.
Round of 16, 2018/19
Rennes 3-1 Arsenal
Arsenal 3-0 Rennes
Arsenal win 4-3 on aggregate
Arsenal took a third-minute lead in France through Alex Iwobi but Sokratis’s red card before half-time offered Rennes the ascendancy, with Ismaila Sarr among the scorers as the Gunners returned to London with a two-goal deficit to overcome.
Unai Emery insisted he had “confidence” in his side, which they repaid by restoring parity inside 15 minutes thanks to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ainsley Maitland-Niles. Aubameyang then struck in the 72nd minute to put the Gunners into the quarter-finals.
Quarter-finals, 2017/18
Lazio 4-2 RB Salzburg
RB Salzburg 4-1 Lazio
RB Salzburg win 6-5 on aggregate
Salzburg twice pegged back Lazio in Rome only for the Italians to score twice in three minutes late on to take a hefty advantage to Austria.
Ciro Immobile even extended that lead to three goals when he opened the scoring in the second leg, but four goals in 20 minutes, including one from Wolves striker Hwang Hee-Chan, flipped the tie on its head. Salzburg’s last three strikes came within 247 seconds – the quickest three goals in Europa League history.
Round of 16, 2013/14
Sevilla 0-2 Real Betis
Real Betis 0-2 Sevilla
Sevilla win 4-3 penalties
The derby rivals traded eerily similar 2-0 away wins with the goals coming at similar times in either half of each game.
So to penalties they went and after Ivan Rakitic had put Sevilla 4-3 in front, Nono stuck his wide of the target to send the eventual winners into the quarter-finals.
Round of 32, 2012/13
Ajax 2-0 Steaua Bucharest
Steaua Bucharest 2-0 Ajax
Steaua Bucharest win 4-2 on penalties
Goals by Toby Alderweireld and Ricardo van Rhijn put Ajax on the brink of the last 16 with a 2-0 win in Amsterdam.
But Iasmin Latovlevici’s first-half strike gave Vlad Chiriches the platform to level the tie on aggregate. In the Europa League’s first knockout-round shoot-out, Lasse Schone and Niklas Moisander missed their penalties, allowing Latovlevici to set up a last-16 meeting with Chelsea.
Round of 16, 2009/10
Juventus 3-1 Fulham
Fulham 4-1 Juventus
Fulham win 5-4 on aggregate
Dickson Etuhu’s away goal in Turin gave Fulham some encouragement they could pull off a stunning comeback, but those hopes were left in tatters when David Trezeguet extended Juve’s advantage in the third minute at Craven Cottage.
Then this happened…