In this article we look at some of the worst Champions league campaigns by teams.
We tried to factor in the status of the club in question and the calibre of the group – if a minnow was to be beaten in a group its not as much of a shock as a big name. Thats the basic theory anyway
Teams
2004–05 UEFA Champions League – Deportivo La Coruña
Its hard to remmebr that Deportivo were once one of Spain’s best teams in their domestic competitions and in europe
In the group stage they were drawn against Monaco, Liverpool, and Olympiacos. Deportivo ended rock bottom, eight points behind Olympiacos and they only got 2 points.
They didn’t score in any of their six games. Of the nine goals they conceded, five of them came in a home game against Monaco, while they managed only two goalless draws.
Dishonorable mentions
Roma only got 1 point but had a match abandonded with a 3-0 loss handed to them and had to play 2 games behind closed doors
2012–13 UEFA Champions League – Man City
Man City were the Premier league champions and had a great squad, drawn in a very difficult group there were high expectations
They were drawn against Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid and Ajax. they lost all 3 away games and drew all 3 home games. A goal difference of -4 showed how tight all the games were
Dishonorable mentions
Nordsjælland only got 1 point and finished with a goal difference of -18 but were always going to struggle being the minnows in the group
Dinamo Zagreb only got 1 point and finished with a goal difference of -13 and only scoreed 1 goal
2016–17 UEFA Champions League – Dinamo Zagreb
They are one of Croatia’s big teams and have decent form in Europe
They were drawn against Juventus, Sevilla and Lyon. They lost all 6 games and scored 0 goals. A tough group in which they suffered 2 4-0 defeats.
Dishonorable mention
Club Brugge – 0 points in a group with Leicester, Porto and Copenhagen scoring only 2 goals
2017–18 UEFA Champions League – Benfica
Benfica are one of 3 big teams in Portugal and regularly get to finals, although semed to be cursed in them.
Benfica had a chance of second place in a group with Manchester United, Basel, and CSKA Moscow
They started badly losing to CSKA Moscow and then a 5-0 drubbing against Basel. No points and no goals in a disastrous campiagn
Dishonorable mentions
Borussia Dortmund – A group of Spurs, Real MAdrid and Apoel, they got 2 points and could not even beat Apoel losing 3-0 to SPurs twice
Monaco – A group of Beşiktaş ,Porto and RB Leipzig the French giants managed 2 points
2014–15 UEFA Champions League – liverpool
A group of Real Madrid , Basel and Ludogorets Razgrad. Real MAdrid would be extremely tough but the other two, surely an easy passage to the next round.
Nope, they finished 3rd in the group being Basel getting only 5 points. They actually won the first game against Ludogorets. They then lost the next 3 games.
In the final 2 games they picked up 2 points against Ludogorets and Basel.
Dishonorable mention
Galatasary – 1 point in a group of Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal and Anderlecht. Conceded 4 goals 4 times.
2013–14 UEFA Champions League – Real Sociedad
A group of Manchester United, Bayer Leverkusen and Shakhtar Donetsk was tough but you would have expected a competitive team to fight against the latter 2 teams.
Lost 3 straight games before only drawing with Man United sealed t heir fate, to be fair the played Man U in the double header only losing 1-0 over the 2 games.
Th then lost the last 2 games to crash out with only 1 point. 1 goal scored and 10 conceded in 6 game showed the issue – couldn’t score.
Dishonorable mentions
Anderlecht – 1 point from a group of Paris Saint-Germain, Olympiacos and Benfica was a poor return.
Marseille – 0 points in a really difficult group of Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal and Napoli
