OT: Does this Champions League semifinal round constitute the greatest semifinal round of any sport ever?
I'm really at a loss. A day after Liverpool's shocking 4-goal comeback missing its top two strikers against Barcelona, Tottenham goes down 3 goals on aggregate missing its top striker at Ajax and roars back with in the second half with three goals, the winner (3-3 aggregate, Tottenham advances on away goals) coming in the dying embers of stoppage time.
Final fours. NFC/AFC championships. NBA conference finals. NHL conference finals. World Cups.
Has there ever been anything like this? Both matchups featuring epic, historic comebacks that the grandkids will hear about?
It doesn't have to be comebacks, but name some other great semifinal rounds. I can't think of anything better than this.
Banish away goals. Dumbest thing about this great sport.
They're scrapping away goals next year.
I think they're great. Who wants to see games like this decided on penalties? Not me. In situations like this, a team goes from losing to winning in an instant, a great feature.
Sudden death OT! Look at how amazing the NHL playoffs are.
Soccer does not use sudden death (golden goal) and games of that nature typically end in penalties anyway. Which are a coin flip.
Yes, my point is that they should.
When soccer did have sudden death, extra time tended to be incredibly uneventful as neither team wanted to risk too much. There were a few exceptions (France in Euro 2000, Turkey in 2002 World Cup), but most games that went to extra time just ended up in penalties. They would have to do something different if they wanted to go back to golden goal - more subs or less players on the field or something like that.
...more subs...
Yes! I've been banging this drum for years! I will never, ever, ever understand why all 14 bench players on the roster can't be subbed in (like baseball).
Imagine if strikers could play at 110 mph all the time, because they only had to play 30-ish minutes per match? That shit would be awesome.
Better than "well it's a tie 3-3, but because of where the first game was, this team advances." It's dumb and glad they are dumping it.
But it's not random chance in terms of where the games are located and in which order.
The way we get to the 3-3 tie is a lot more exciting with away goals. The games are played differently because away goals provides incentive for the road team on the first leg to not sit back and play for a 0-0 draw. It incentivizes aggressiveness.
And then when away goals get out of balance and the aggregate is within one, one team becomes as desperate to score as the other team is desperate not to let them score. There is no "safe zone" that a tie provides both teams. The balance of the games is a knifes edge on which only one team can stand. It's not a comfortable plateau that just requires one team to climb back on top while the other shies away from the ledge for fear of falling off.
It's that kind of desperation that makes for more exciting soccer, IMO. I think doing away with it is a huge mistake for game play.
This is the correct answer. The away goals rule is what brings much of the excitement to 2-legged ties. It will be interesting to see how this changes next year. Penalties are a dumb way to decide. Away goals is much better.
From a comeback perspective, that is crazy!
In terms of semifinal rounds in general, I still can't get over Wimbledon last year.
Are you biased?
A tad! But Roger wasn't even in the semis last year (sadly).
Huh... I thought your avi was an homage to Ralph Furley.
Agreed
I would make an emotional answer to your question of: yes
No.
YES!
Greatest CL and beats anything ever done in the US. Just incredible
Greatest CL moment will always be Liverpool - AC Milan 2005 when they came back and won down 3-0 in the second half.
There's a good doc on it called "One Night in Istanbul" or something like that.
Greatest CL moment was two goals in injury time to win, presented by Sheringham and Sjolskjaer.
After the first goal...
"Name on the trophy"
After doing extensive research on this topic I’ve concluded the result is inconclusive. My opinion is yes probably maybe
I offer the '89 NCAA Final Four.
A big upset with a second-half comeback (Seton Hall over Duke), a big upset with a last-second putback (Michigan over Illinois), and it's not European soccer. ;)
This is a good answer; how dramatic was Seton Hall's win, really? I honestly never give it any thought.
It wasn't as dramatic as Michigan's -- they were down slightly at halftime and pulled away throughout the second half. It was a classic "closer than the score would indicate" game.
But it was against Duke. True, they weren't DOOK yet, but they were on their way. :)
A very mediocre Danny Ferry Duke team lost to a very mediocre Seton Hall team. The Michigan-Illinois game was he special one.
This shit was bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S
I'd prefer to see OT (Sudden death or Classic, I don't have strong opinion) followed by away goals used as a tiebreaker in the event it remains a tie after extra time. PKs as a last resort.
Edit: Whoops, was supposed to reply to comment above
Can't do that because then you're giving the second leg team the random advantage of getting more minutes of competition at home.
I think it's perfect the way it is. It's why you get so many more of these exciting results in home-and-home series as opposed to single games that can go to PKs (and I have no data on that, just anecdotally seems these CL series are so much more bonkers than WC matches).
Off the top of my head. I don't know if these would be "better" than the Champions League games (I don't watch soccer, nothing against it, I just struggle to understand and thus enjoy the sport), but I would say these are some of the best from other sports:
MLB: 1986. Red Sox were 1 out away from being eliminated by the Angels, came back to win. Astros gave the regular-season dominant Mets a very hard push in the NLCS. The deciding game 6 went 15 innings. 2004 would be #2 - Red Sox epic comeback from 3-0 down and St Louis beat Houston in 7.
NCAA: Someone else mentioned 1989, I'd go a few years later and nominate 1993. Michigan/UK was great of course. Kansas vs UNC was the rare case of 2 blue bloods in the first semifinal. Though UNC won by 10 it was a pretty darn good game.
NFL: This previous January was awesome. Probably #1. The 2011 season Championships (January 2012) I feel are a close #2 - these games are a bit forgotten to time. But they were great. Baltimore pushed New England to the limit in Foxboro in the opener, had a field goal to force OT but missed it. NYG then won at Candlestick in an intense close game that went to OT.
College football: None of the 5 have been great, but I'd say 2014 is the best. Everyone remembers the comical Jameis Winston fumble late in the 3rd that made it a blowout, but that was a 25-20 game midway through the 3rd. It was close. Alabama v OSU was a classic.
Your nominees for the MLB and NCAA are great picks. I think these were more dramatic, but that 2004 Red Sox team was something else. Anyway, great picks.
Great choices.
Agree those are good picks. 2004 MLB was legendary. This past NFL semis were really good too.
I still think these last two days topped those, mayyyybe the 2004 MLB playoffs gets there. But maybe I'm just still in disbelief about today's game.
I dunno... I thoroughly enjoyed when Clemson shut out OSU 31-0 in the CFP semifinals.
Given both matchups, and the comebacks, and the world stage on which the games were played on, I think the answer is yes.
Barcelona getting just absolutely throttled yesterday was something I will never forget.
They were throttled, and that last goal was genius. Also, the ball boys should get an assist: https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/liverpool-fc-barcelona-champions-league-2019-divock-origi-goal-ball-boy-ucl-video-a8904461.html
What made these Champions League semifinal results even more interesting for me is that the epic comebacks by Liverpoool and Tottenham put two English clubs into the Champions League final for the second time ever. The only other time was in 2008 when Manchester United beat Chelsea in the final. LINK
Today, the second-tier European league semifinals also include two English clubs (Chelsea and Arsenal). Chelsea will be at home against Eintracht after drawing 1-1 in Frankfurt last week; Arsenal travels to Valencia after beating the Spanish club 3-1 in the first leg of their semifinal round.
Chelsea already qualified for next season’s Champions League group stages by finishing in the top four of the English Premiership. Eintracht and Valencia both are in reach of finishing within the top four of their respective leagues and gaining entry into next season’s Champions League. Arsenal will be eliminated from next season’s Champions League if it loses today 2-0 (under the away-goal rule) or by at least three goals.
If Chelsea and Arsenal advance to the Europa League final, then there will be four English clubs in the finals of the top two European league club championships for the first time ever. The only other time when two English clubs met for the Europa League (formerly UEFA Cup) championship was in the inaugural season of 1971-72 when Tottenham beat Wolverhampton in a two-leg final. LINK
And Then There Were Four
After Wednesday’s incredible comeback wins for Liverpool and Tottenham, it took a dramatic penalty-kick shootout for Chelsea to beat Frankfurt, Germany’s Eintracht club to have four English Premiership clubs advance to the finals of Europe’s top two club football championships. Liverpool and Tottenham will play for the Champions League title on Saturday, June 1; Chelsea and Arsenal will play for the Europa League title on Wednesday, May 29.
Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea already have clinched places in next season’s Champions League, so Arsenal has the most to play for, because a win also will place them in next season’s Champions League.
Although Chelsea’s and Arsenal’s home stadiums are separated by only eight miles across London, they’ll have to travel 2,468 miles for the Europa League final in Baku, Azerbaijan. LINK
I will argue that this year's NFL conference championships were both spec-effing-tacular, but I'll save that argument for later because soccer fans deserve their moment here. Also, nobody likes football's OT rules.
I think this format beats any 7 game series. I absolutely love watching a 7 game baseball series (for basketball and hockey, I think it makes each series with off days REAL long). Then the only options can be college basketball or NFL in the US (and I guess the last few years of college football...snooze).
Champions League is the best tournament in sports. Best teams from Europe playing during the week (league games on the weekend) with home and away matchups, where momentum shifts at the drop of a hat. It really can't be beat. The last two days was the most exciting back to back combination I think I've ever watched.
Liverpool didn't need to just win, they needed to win by four goals...against one of the best teams in the world...without their best two forwards. Unbelievable
No it’s soccer bro.
As a Spurs follower Im still riding this high however many hours later. Still cant believe that comeback happened. Im used to us losing games and points in extra time this season. I was pretty unhappy person at halftime... but that was a lifetime ago !
Spurs supporter here too, and i had it written off - just about turned the TV off at halftime, i was so sure it was done.
then i was happy i'd left it on, and that my phone was on mute for the conference call i was on when i yelled at the end
I don’t know how you top Boston 2004.