Roma 0-2 Manchester City, 10 December 2014

With Bayern München long since through, Roma, Manchester City and CSKA Moskva went into their final games level on points and chasing the runners-up spot in Group E. City needed to win, but even then they had to hope the Russian side did not. As it was, CSKA succumbed 3-0 in Germany and City squeezed through. Things might have panned out differently had Joe Hart not tipped a Kostas Manolas header on to the upright with 18 minutes left, preserving the Citizens' 1-0 lead. Pablo Zabaleta wrapped it up late on, finishing off a pass from the man who opened the scoring, Samir Nasri.



Basel 2-1 Manchester United, 7 December 2011

Runners-up the previous season, United required a point to progress from Group C, but were tormented by Xherdan Shaqiri. The stocky playmaker provided the cross which led to Marco Streller's thumping opener and, as the visitors pressed, set up Alexander Frei to head the second six minutes from time. Phil Jones halved the deficit, but 'Bebbi' survived a tense finale to advance from the initial group stage for the first time since 2002/03.

Juventus 1-4 Bayern München, 8 December 2009

Bayern would finish the campaign in the Madrid final against another Serie A side, Internazionale Milano, but so nearly ended up in the UEFA Europa League instead. Third at kick-off behind their opponents, the Bavarians were heading out when David Trezeguet gave La Vecchia Signora a 19th-minute lead. Goalkeeper Hans-Jörg Butt equalised from the spot and, early in the second half, Ivica Olić put Bayern in front. Mario Gomez and Anatoliy Tymoshchuk added more goals to consign the Bianconeri, for whom this equalled their record European home loss, to elimination.

Barcelona 2-3 Shakhtar Donetsk, 9 December 2008

Shakhtar took full advantage of an inexperienced Barcelona team to register a memorable result, albeit in what was a dead rubber for the Catalans. Two goals from Olexandr Gladkiy and Fernandinho's third sent the Ukrainian club soaring into the knockout phase of the 38th and last UEFA Cup, a competition they would ultimately win thanks to Jadson's extra-time intervention against Werder Bremen in Istanbul.

Craig Bellamy celebrates his goal at Feyernood ©Getty Images

Benfica 2-1 Manchester United, 7 December 2005

Goals from Geovanni and Beto stunned United and enabled Benfica to reach the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds for the first time since 1994/95. The result also meant that the Red Devils, who could not build on the early advantage given them by Paul Scholes, failed to advance from the group stage for the first time in ten years; by finishing bottom of Group D they did not even have a UEFA Cup berth for consolation.

Liverpool 3-1 Olympiacos, 8 December 2004

Liverpool, who would come from 3-0 down to overcome AC Milan on penalties in the Istanbul final, demonstrated their powers of recovery five months earlier. Beaten 1-0 in Piraeus on matchday two, Rafael Benítez's men needed a two-goal victory to pip their visitors to qualification on head-to-head record. Their objective never altered in spite of Rivaldo scoring before the half-hour, but heading into the last four minutes the Reds still required another goal to supplement strikes from substitutes Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Neil Mellor. Steven Gerrard duly powered a 25-metre drive beyond Antonis Nikopolidis to spark scenes of jubilation at Anfield.

Feyenoord 2-3 Newcastle United, 13 November 2002, first group stage

Craig Bellamy returned from suspension to fire Newcastle into the second group stage. Their European challenge in disarray following a 2-0 reverse to Juventus on matchday three, the Magpies landed in Rotterdam with hope renewed after back-to-back wins, but were still reliant on Dynamo Kyiv slipping up in Group E's other game. Newcastle were still going out until Bellamy's added-time winner, his second of the night as Newcastle became the first side in UEFA Champions League history to lose their first three matches and still progress.

Basel 3-3 Liverpool, 12 November 2002, first group stage

Basel proceeded to the second group stage on their competition debut at the expense of more illustrious opponents. Liverpool had gone into the game having to win to edge out the Swiss outfit, but found themselves three down within the first half-hour following a textbook display of quick, one-touch football which resulted in goals for Julio Rossi, Christian Giménez and Thimothée Atouba. Though Ballon d'Or holder Michael Owen capped an exhilarating second-half comeback by the Reds, it was not enough.

Panathinaikos 3-1 Juventus, 8 November 2000, first group stage

Occupying second position in Group E before kick-off, Juventus slipped to the foot of the section after an evening to forget in Athens. Trailing to an early Paulo Sousa effort, Carlo Ancelotti's men levelled through Filippo Inzaghi. They were behind again when Angelos Basinas converted a penalty following the dismissal of Edwin van der Sar and this time they would not recover, Krzysztof Warzycha sealing victory for the Greens before Juve's Darko Kovačević was also sent off.

AC Milan 1-2 Rosenborg, 4 December 1996

Having already won at IFK Göteborg, Rosenborg saved their best until last, recording what remains their most famous European triumph. Milan had lost at home to Porto and in Sweden, but a side containing Paolo Maldini, Zvonimir Boban and Roberto Baggio was heavily fancied to gain the point demanded against a team they had felled 4-1 in Trondheim. While Harald Brattbakk stunned San Siro after a wayward shot broke kindly at his feet, normality was restored when Christophe Dugarry equalised yet Vegard Heggem had the final say, beating keeper Sebastiano Rossi to Brattbakk's deep cross 20 minutes from time to send the Norwegian club into the last eight at the expense of their storied hosts.