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The five finalists in the Champions League since 2000 have had the worst performance the following season. Could Liverpool to take the place of Arsenal at next year's meeting?
5. Arsenal 2006/07
In truth, Arsenal may not belong to this list. But we set the rules. After reaching the final of the Champions League in 2006, when their 10 men were eliminated by Barcelona in Paris, they then gave fans a taste of the future by going to the round of 16. They finished fourth in the Premier League, as was the case during the previous season, the decline was not particularly alarming. But "the top five" sounds better than four, so …
And losing to PSV Eindhoven is not the most glorious output of Arsenal. The Netherlands lost the first leg 1-0 in Holland, but Arsene Wenger's men were the favorites to advance in their first Champions League playoff match at Emirates, and that's what they seemed have to do when Alex scored his goal in the second period.
But the Chelsea rider was quick to change, with his head eight minutes from the end of the match, allowing Arsenal to lose the Carling Cup final to Chelsea and be eliminated from the competition. FA Cup in Blackburn.
4. AC Milan, 2007/08
After defeating Liverpool in the Athens final in 2007, Carlo Ancelotti's men finished the following season without a place in the Champions League, having concluded a fifth season of Series A at the slightest contradiction.
They did not defend themselves better in the European Cup. Ancelotti's teams, such as Nesta, Maldini, Cafu, Pirlo, Gattuso and Kaka, completed the group stage, losing only once: Celtic also qualified.
But during the meeting with Arsenal, Milan made a good impression when he played in the 16th. The Rossoneri were defeated at the end of the first leg, but Wenger's Gunners became the first English team to beat Milan at San Siro when Cesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor prevailed. for a famous victory. What they quickly wasted losing to Liverpool in the next round.
3. Chelsea 2012/13
The Blues have recorded their worst position in the Premier League for a decade finishing sixth at the end of a 2011-12 season started under the orders of Andre-Villas Boas. But his interim replacement, Roberto Di Matteo, allowed Chelsea to win his first Champions League title after beating Barcelona in the semi-finals before giving up his seat at Bayern in Munich.
The following season was full of similar upheavals in the dugout. Four months after signing a two-year contract, Di Matteo acted in the same way as Villas-Boas, leading to the arrival of Rafael Benitez and a spike in felt-tip sales around Stamford Bridge, while fans spoke angrily via A4.
It was a 3-0 defeat at Juventus that proved to be the last nail in Di Matteo's coffin and Rafa did not change Chelsea's fate in the Champions League. They became the first defending champions to leave the tournament in the group stage, but unlike Manchester United the previous season, the Blues were successful in their Europa League campaign. Even if a non-Blue would have a hard time remembering how he did it …
2. Manchester United 2011/12
Talk about the red devil. To go from the Premier League champions to the finalists solely because of Sergio Aguero's divine interventions is hardly a cataclysmic collapse. But that's how you could describe the United Champions League campaign in 2011-12.
At the end of the previous season, Sir Alex Ferguson's team qualified for the final at Wembley, where it was headed by Barcelona's Pep Guardiola. No shame on that. But not to qualify in a group including Benfica, Basel and Otelul Galati (in Romania, since you asked for it) is a bit more embarrbading.
Otelul was the only side United had managed to defeat in a dismal European campaign. A bad performance on the last day against Basel led to a third place, placing the Red Devils in Europa League. Marcelo Bielsa's Athletic Bilbao gives Fergie's men a lesson at home and abroad.
1. Bayer Leverkusen 2002/03
Leverkusen, the runner-up in the worst-performing UEFA Champions League, went from second place in the Bundesliga in 2001-02 to the defeat of the Champions League final in Glasgow and Zinedine Zidane's victory in a relegation battle. to a miserable campaign in Europe.
Klaus Toppmoller's men, including Dimitar Berbatov, but not Michael Ballack and Ze Roberto, prevented Liverpool and Manchester United from coming out of the quarterfinals and semi-finals in 2001-02, but they never got close to the eighths of final the following season. They sailed in a first group stage against Manchester United, Olympiakos and Maccabi Haifa, but found the second a bit more difficult. They did not win a single point, they lost all six games against Barcelona, Inter Milan and Newcastle Sir Bobby Robson.
Toppmoller has never seen the end of this phase of second-round groups. He was sacked in February after five consecutive defeats leaving them in 15th place in the Bundesliga standings. That's where they ended the season, dangerously dragging a spot above the drop zone.
Ian Watson
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