Top five goal routs in Champions League’s history

ByAmlan Majumdar, SportsCafe Editor

02/22/2017

Manchester City and AS Monaco played out an 8-goal thriller on Tuesday, however, it was still a far way off from the record held by the Borussia Dortmund-Legia Warszawa game where 12 goals were scored earlier this season. Here is a list of the most high-scoring games in Champions League’s history.

5. Olympic Lyon 7-2 Werder Bremen (2005)

Over the years, Lyon has produced some of the most exciting talents of European football, and the squad they had in the 2004-05 season was filled with such talents. Their attack consisted of Sylvain Wiltord, Florent Malouda, Juninho Pernambucano, and Sidney Govou – Karim Benzema was on the bench. The had Michael Essien in the midfield along with Mahamadou Diarra. The likes of Eric Abidal and Cris were patrolling the defense while Gregory Coupet was guarding their goal.

Lyon won the Ligue 1 title comfortably that season, and they reached the quarters of the Champions League. On their way to the quarters, they faced German side Werder Bremen, which had Miroslav Klose leading their attack. Lyon won the first leg away 0-3 before doing a demolishing job on the visitors at the Grand Stade to win the tie 10-2 on aggregate.

Former Arsenal striker Wiltord gave the home side the lead under 10 minutes, before Essien, who used to play on the wings back then, scored a brace. Johan Micoud pulled one back for the visitors but Wiltord completed his hat-trick and Malouda scored another in the second half to make it 7-2 for the home side.

4. PSG 7-2 Rosenborg BK (2000)

In the 2000-01 season, PSG loitered at the mid-table of the Ligue 1 for most of the season. However, that team did have some good talents. A young Nicolas Anelka was leading their forward line, while Laurent Robert, who was one of the best left-foots to grace the Premier League, was making a good reputation for himself. Frederic Dehu had arrived from Barcelona in the center of the defense, and he had Brazilian international Christian Correa as his partner.

Dehu and Correa scored the opening two goals of the game before Anelka added a third. Rosenberg striker Christer George scored a couple of goals within two minutes to get them back into the match, however, the second half turned out to be a stroll in the park for PSG. Anelka completed his brace, Luccin scored a stunner while Robert scored one from the spot to make it 7-2 for the French side.

3. Villarreal CF 6-3 Aalborg BK (2008)

Manuel Pellegrini was the head coach of a wonderfully assembled Villarreal side back then. It boasted of many players who are playing across top European clubs at the moment. Diego Lopez was in goal with World Cup winner Joan Capdevilla manning the left back. The likes of Edmilson, Marcos Senna, and Santi Cazorla were in the midfield while the mercurial Italian Giuseppe Rossi led their attack. Players like Diego Godin and Robert Pires, although well past his prime, were on the bench.

They were in Group E in the Champions League that season with Manchester United, Aalborg, and Celtic. Villarreal managed to finish second ahead of Aalborg, and reached the quarters where they lost to Arsenal, and their 6-3 win over the Danish side in the group stage was crucial in achieving that feat.

It was Aalborg who took the lead away from home through Marek Saganowski, however, Rossi and Capdevila responded with goals of their own to make it 2-1. Thomas Enevoldsen equalized for the visitors once again before halftime, and the teams went in 2-2 at the break. The second half turned out to be a one-sided affair, though.

Joseba Llorente scored a hat-trick in the second 45 minutes with a Robert Pires goal sandwiched in between to give the Spanish side a smashing 6-3 win.

2. AS Monaco 8-3 Deportivo La Coruna (2003)

The 2003-04 season was arguably the most unpredictable edition in the Champions League’s history. As all the big guns were laid to waste, Jose Mourinho’s FC Porto and Didier Deschamps’ AS Monaco reached the final, with the former winning it 0-3.

That AS Monaco side had some amazingly talented players. Ludovic Giuly, who went on to play for Barcelona, was the heartbeat of that side, and he had a support cast of Jerome Rothen, who went on to make 180 appearances for PSG, and former Real Madrid striker Fernando Morientes. Former Manchester United and Juventus left back Patrick Evra was in the defense of that side along with the ever reliable Gael Givet.

Monaco were in a group consisting of Deportivo La Coruna, PSV Eindhoven, and AEK Athens, and the Spanish side traveled to France to face them in the November of 2003. That Deportivo La Coruna side were not a team of mugs. Back in 1999-2000, they had won the La Liga, they finished second in the next couple of seasons, and had won the Copa del Rey in the 2001-02 season. That team had the likes of Mauro Silva, Diego Tristan, and Juan Carlos Valeron in their ranks. Which why the scoreline was such a surprise.

Croatian striker Dada Prso scored a memorable hat-trick, while the likes of Rother, Giuly, Jaroslav Plasil, and Edouard Cisse got on the scoresheet for the home side as Deportivo fell apart.

1. Borussia Dortmund 8-4 Legia Warszawa (2016)

Borussia Dortmund welcomed Polish club Legia Warszawa in their Group F clash back in November last year, and the two clubs conjured up a scoreline which is unmatched since the new format of Champions League was put in place. Overall, it was the match with the second highest number of goals in the combined history of Champions League and back when it was known as the European Cup – only Feyenoord’s 2-12 win over Icelandic club KR Reykjavík in the first round of the 1969-70 edition of the tournament had seen more goals in a game.

Rejuvenated by their manager Thomas Tuchel, Dortmund tore their opponent’s defense apart with fast and incisive passing. However, it was Legia who took the lead in the game when Aleksandar Prijovic scored with the outside of his right foot in the 10th minute.

The home side’s response was quick and lethal. Shinji Kagawa scored two goals in the space of 60 seconds, both times assisted by the highly-rated French teenager Ousmane Dembele, before Nuri Sahin added a third. However, despite their dexterity in the attack, Dortmund looked almost as vulnerable as their opponent at the back, and Prijovic scored his second of the game in the 24th minute to make it 3-2.

Marco Reus burst into life after that goal, and the German international created one for Dembele before scoring the first of his three goals on the night to make it 5-2 in what was just the 32nd minute of the game. Michal Kucharczyk and Nemanja Nikolic pulled a couple of goals back for Legia in the second half but Reus complete his hat-trick, 18-year-old midfielder Felix Passlack scored his first Champions League goal for the club, and Jakub Rzezniczak scored an unfortunate own-goal in the added time to make it 8-4 for Dortmund in the end.