UCL Final 2005 – AC Milan vs Liverpool
There’s really no way making an article about the best football matches ever played and not including the Grand finale of the UEFA Champions League 2005. Even though we’ve already ranked AC Milan vs Liverpool the Greatest Sports Comeback in the football category it also deserves mention here. These two teams have produced some of the most breath-taking football games between them, including the UCL final 2007, where AC Milan managed to avenge themselves for the defeat two years earlier. Words are not enough to describe what happened that night in Istanbul, so you can rejoice the highlights from the legendary football match with the video below.
UCL Quarter-final 2009; 2nd Leg – Chelsea vs Liverpool
Liverpool find themselves in yet another classical match from the greatest club football tournament. And that’s hardly a surprise, given their mesmerising history and achievements, however, in this clash The Reds were on the losing end. The game had it all – goals, tension, adrenalin. It was a major betting sensation at the top gambling sites and the odds were very good. It was the second leg after a 1:3 beat down at Anfield and Liverpool was about to leave it all on the pitch. Understandably Chelsea entered the contests as the favourites given the home-ground advantage and the 2 goals cushion.
It was only 30 mins past the kick-off and Liverpool was already leading 0:2 which marked the final score of the first half. And then things spiralled out of control as both teams netted a total of 6 goals, with Drogba’s 51st minute, followed by another Chelsea goal just 6 minutes after. The final 4:4 for the 2nd leg and 7:5 on aggregate meant that Liverpool were kicked out of the UCL finals, but they still made in in our list of the best football matches ever played.
UCL Semi-final 2009; 2nd Leg – Chelsea vs Barcelona
There was something special about Chelsea and 2nd legs UCL in that particular year 2009. Just short of 2 months of the awesome 4:4 against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, this stadium was about to witness another epic night of football. Barcelona was the visiting side, however, they were the strong favourite after the goalless draw at Camp Nou in the 1st leg. But little did they know, how tough their night will be in London.
Many Chelsea FC fans are still sick to their stomach when thinking about how the Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo took away a well-deserved win with his scandalous decisions. Nevertheless, the match between Chelsea and Barcelona was a really great spectacle, where the home team took an early lead after an amazing volley by Michael Essien. Barcelona had more possession, but the most dangerous situations were created by Chelsea. Until the heart-breaking 93rd minute equaliser by Iniesta which prevented the Blues from their second-ever CL final at the time.
Superclásico: Copa Libertadores Final 2018
Next, we’ll shift our attention to the Champions League equivalent in South America – Copa Libertadores. It’s the Superclásico Finale from 2018 which makes it the most recent clash that we’ve featured on our list of best football matches ever played. The eternal rivalry between Boca Juniors vs River Plate is probably one of the biggest in the club football, even greater than Barcelona vs Real Madrid. Ironically, this particular final took place at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu, but the story behind it is really fascinating.
To say that this football game had it all is an understatement. Almost one month after the 1st leg, Boca Juniors and River Plate were finally going to produce the winner of Copa Libertadores 2018. The 2nd leg was suspended twice firstly for the pouring rain over Buenos Aires and secondly because of an attack on the Boca Juniors bus, by some River Plate’s fans. There was so much controversy in the building up due to injured players after the bus attack, that moving away from Argentina to avoid further aggression between the fans was a must.
It’s hard to criticise anyone, though, as these two teams have some of the most passionate fans in the world regardless of their tough way of life. Witnessing 50 000 Boca’s fans singing for hours during the pre-match training and then under the flooding rain on La Bombonera stadium, even though the game was already cancelled is just magical. In the video above you can see a recap of one of the most dramatic and best football games ever.
Superclassic of the Americas – Brazil vs Argentina
The super classic series continues with another South America eternal derby, this time on a national football team level – Brazil vs Argentina. From the generation of the legendary Maradona and Pele to the most recent days of Messi and Neymar, these two national football powerhouses have produced some of the most memorable matches in the history of the game. Their rivalry will need a separate article to be honest, however, for the purpose of this one we’ll highlight only some statistics and memorable moments. Here’re some key statistics as per time of writing:
- Total matches played – 105
- Victories – Brazil 41, Argentina 38, 26 draws
- Goals – Brazil 163, Argentina 160
- World Cup Titles – Brazil 4, Argentina 2
As you can see after more than 100 games played between Argentina and Brazil, the results and goals are almost even. It’s really hard to predict how their next meeting will end, however, if you’re the betting type you can try your luck at the best online sports betting sites.
World Cup 2014: Semi-final – Brazil vs Germany
“Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.”Gary Lineker
The national team of Brazil is featured in our list of best football matches with the 2014 World Cup semi-final against Germany. This game holds several records for the German side and a negative record for Selecao for the biggest defeat on a world cup semi-final. With the 1:7 win, Die Mannschaft holds the record for biggest margin of victory in a World Cup final or semi-final. The humiliation for Brazil was even bigger, as they were the hosting nation of the World Cup and the fans didn’t take it lightly.
After 0:5 down before the 30th minute of the game, the Brazilian squad was broken. Buses and shops were burned down across Brazil, while some fans even took it a step further by burning the national flag. The riots escalated to the point, where the German fans had to be escorted by the police out of the stadium. Manager Luiz Felipe Scolari took the blame for the terrible loss and gave his resignation.
World Cup 1986 Quarter-final: Argentina vs England
We left this one as the cherry of the cake and for a good reason. The clash between Argentina and England at the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal has produced countless memorable moments. First, the infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal followed by the goal that could easily be named the greatest individual goal of all time by none other than Don Diego Armando Maradona. He singlehandedly put the Brits on their knees in a matter of 4 minutes by creating two of the most memorable goals ever.
More than 100 000 people who were at the Estadio Azteca were blessed to witness greatness that day. Meanwhile, Gary Lineker managed to score the consolation goal for England in the 81st minute, but all eyes were on Maradona and his genius. In the end, Argentina won the World Cup title, while Diego took the golden ball for the best player of the tournament.
The Best Football Games – Epilogue
It’s not an easy task to feature all the best football matches in a single article. There’re countless games on both national and club level that deserve to be mentioned, so we might make a second post about them in the future. Nevertheless, we’re pretty confident that this list is well rounded enough to bring back awesome memories to the fans of the most popular sport in the world.
