Belief Fuels Era of Remarkable Champions League Comebacks

 Divock Origi celebrates scoring Liverpool’s fourth goal against Barcelona (left) whilst Lucas Moura celebrates scoring Spurs’ last minute winner against Ajax. Composite: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian; Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images
Divock Origi celebrates scoring Liverpool’s fourth goal against Barcelona (left) whilst Lucas Moura celebrates scoring Spurs’ last minute winner against Ajax. Composite: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian; Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images
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Belief Fuels Era of Remarkable Champions League Comebacks

 Divock Origi celebrates scoring Liverpool’s fourth goal against Barcelona (left) whilst Lucas Moura celebrates scoring Spurs’ last minute winner against Ajax. Composite: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian; Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images
Divock Origi celebrates scoring Liverpool’s fourth goal against Barcelona (left) whilst Lucas Moura celebrates scoring Spurs’ last minute winner against Ajax. Composite: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian; Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images

Yes, yes, very good, but does the Champions League have any other tricks? It has become like Jed Mercurio killing off major characters long before the end of a series: the overturning of what would once have seemed impregnable leads is beginning to lose its shock value.

It is astonishing how perspectives change. When Manchester United won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16, it seemed a comeback for the ages, the sort of performance and result that would never be forgotten. Now, if it exists in the collective memory at all, it will be as another example of PSG’s flakiness or the culmination of that strange two-month period when it seemed Ole Gunnar Solskjær might be able to turn United around essentially by sticking on a late-90s mixtape in the dressing room.

As comebacks go, United in Paris feels distinctly quotidian alongside what Liverpool did to Barcelona and then, even more dramatically, what Tottenham did at Ajax. Liverpool on Tuesday night was the third three-goal lead overturned from one leg of a Champions League knockout tie to the next since the beginning of 2017. There have been a further three two-goal leads overturned in that time: that total of six is as many as in the previous 31 years of the competition.

So why? What is going on?

There are structural reasons. The introduction of the backpass law in 1992, the continuing liberalisation of offside and the crackdown on intimidatory tackling have all made it harder for teams to kill a game. Whatever else Fifa has done, the programme it introduced after the 1990 World Cup to make the game more open has been a raging success.

Football is a more attacking game now than it has been in half a century. Since 2008-09 the knockout stage of the Champions League has produced an average of more than three goals per game in all but one season; in the 14 years before that – that is, when a quarter-final phase was introduced after the groups – it produced more than three goals per game only twice.

Obviously, the more goals there are, the greater potential there is for big swings. 2008-09, it may be noted, was Pep Guardiola’s first in management. The change of mentality he brought about among the elite, the realisation that it was possible almost to treat an 11-a-side game as you would five-a-side, has had a profound impact on how the game is played.

Possession has become far more important than position, and that perhaps makes a team more vulnerable if things begin to go wrong: the traditional defensive bulwarks are not necessarily there any more.

A manager such as Jürgen Klopp meanwhile, who is so adept at whipping his players to a frenzy, takes an enormous risk. His whole approach, tactical and emotional, can produce great highs but also great lows; it is as though he is operating on a higher amplitude than everybody else. That is how his side could beat City three times last season, but also lose 5-0 to them – it is no coincidence that he had already pulled off one three-goal European comeback in his time as Liverpool manager, against Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League quarter-final in 2016.

Yet the change is not matched in domestic football: over the past decade in the big four leagues there has only been one season that yielded more than three goals per game, in the Bundesliga in 2013-14.

That suggests a certain decadence at work, that the superclubs, used to dominating domestically, have forgotten how to defend, that they spend so much time attacking they lack organisation and discipline, perhaps even the mettle, to stage a successful rearguard.

That explains why the environment is conducive to sudden lurches of momentum; it does not explain why now. The answer to that is probably simply that once comebacks start happening they begin to seem possible: the chasing side realises a lead is not unassailable while the side with the advantage begins to tighten up.

It is like the four-minute mile. The athletics world was gripped in the early 1950s by the race to become the first to break the mark – it had been a target consciously chased since at least 1886 – yet once Roger Bannister had finally dipped under four minutes, 65 years ago this week, he was followed by a rush of others: John Landy broke his world record 46 days later and a couple of weeks after that Bannister and Landy both went under four minutes in the same race. By the time half a century had gone by, more than 1,000 others had done it: the barrier was psychological as much as it was physical.

A small-scale footballing example of that came in the Uefa Cup in 2005-06 when Middlesbrough, having overcome a three-goal deficit to beat Basel in the quarter-final did so again in the semi-final against Steaua. Almost as soon as Massimo Maccarone began the second comeback, it had a sense of inevitability: everybody at the Riverside had seen that film before.

At half-time in Amsterdam Tottenham, needing three goals in the second half, cannot but have thought of Liverpool scoring three in a half against Barcelona the night before. This was doable – and that sense conditioned the response both of players and fans. What is believable becomes achievable.

The Guardian Sport



Tottenham Hotspur Sack Head Coach Thomas Frank

(FILES) Tottenham Hotspur's Danish head coach Thomas Frank gestures on the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur at Turf Moor in Burnley, north-west England on January 24, 2026. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)/
(FILES) Tottenham Hotspur's Danish head coach Thomas Frank gestures on the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur at Turf Moor in Burnley, north-west England on January 24, 2026. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)/
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Tottenham Hotspur Sack Head Coach Thomas Frank

(FILES) Tottenham Hotspur's Danish head coach Thomas Frank gestures on the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur at Turf Moor in Burnley, north-west England on January 24, 2026. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)/
(FILES) Tottenham Hotspur's Danish head coach Thomas Frank gestures on the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur at Turf Moor in Burnley, north-west England on January 24, 2026. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)/

Thomas Frank was fired by Tottenham on Wednesday after only eight months in charge and with his team just five points above the relegation zone in the Premier League.

Despite leading Spurs to the round of 16 in the Champions League, Frank has overseen a desperate domestic campaign. A 2-1 loss to Newcastle on Tuesday means Spurs are still to win in the league in 2026.

“The Club has taken the decision to make a change in the Men’s Head Coach position and Thomas Frank will leave today,” Tottenham said in a statement. “Thomas was appointed in June 2025, and we have been determined to give him the time and support needed to build for the future together.

“However, results and performances have led the Board to conclude that a change at this point in the season is necessary.”

Frank’s exit means Spurs are on the lookout for a sixth head coach in less than seven years since Mauricio Pochettino departed in 2019.


Marseille Coach De Zerbi Leaves After Humiliating 5-0 Loss to PSG 

Marseille's Italian coach Roberto De Zerbi looks on from the technical area during the French Cup round of 32 football match between FC Bayeux and Olympique de Marseille (OM) at the Michel-d'Ornano Stadium in Caen on January 13, 2026. (AFP) 
Marseille's Italian coach Roberto De Zerbi looks on from the technical area during the French Cup round of 32 football match between FC Bayeux and Olympique de Marseille (OM) at the Michel-d'Ornano Stadium in Caen on January 13, 2026. (AFP) 
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Marseille Coach De Zerbi Leaves After Humiliating 5-0 Loss to PSG 

Marseille's Italian coach Roberto De Zerbi looks on from the technical area during the French Cup round of 32 football match between FC Bayeux and Olympique de Marseille (OM) at the Michel-d'Ornano Stadium in Caen on January 13, 2026. (AFP) 
Marseille's Italian coach Roberto De Zerbi looks on from the technical area during the French Cup round of 32 football match between FC Bayeux and Olympique de Marseille (OM) at the Michel-d'Ornano Stadium in Caen on January 13, 2026. (AFP) 

Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi is leaving the French league club in the wake of a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of PSG in French soccer biggest game.

The nine-time French champions said on Wednesday that they have ended “their collaboration by mutual agreement.”

The heavy loss Sunday at the Parc des Princes restored defending champion PSG’s two-point lead over Lens after 21 rounds, with Marseille in fourth place after the humiliating defeat.

De Zerbi's exit followed another embarrassing 3-0 loss at Club Brugge two weeks ago that resulted in Marseille exiting the Champions League.

De Zerbi, who had apologized to Marseille fans after the loss against bitter rival PSG, joined Marseille in 2024 after two seasons in charge at Brighton. After tightening things up tactically in Marseille during his first season, his recent choices had left many observers puzzled.

“Following consultations involving all stakeholders in the club’s leadership — the owner, president, director of football and head coach — it was decided to opt for a change at the head of the first team,” Marseille said. “This was a collective and difficult decision, taken after thorough consideration, in the best interests of the club and in order to address the sporting challenges of the end of the season.”

De Zerbi led Marseille to a second-place finish last season. Marseille did not immediately announce a replacement for De Zerbi ahead of Saturday's league match against Strasbourg.

Since American owner Frank McCourt bought Marseille in 2016, the former powerhouse of French soccer has failed to find any form of stability, with a succession of coaches and crises that sometimes turned violent.

Marseille dominated domestic soccer in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was the only French team to win the Champions League before PSG claimed the trophy last year. It hasn’t won its own league title since 2010.


Olympic Fans Hunt for Plushies of Mascots Milo and Tina as They Fly off Shelves 

Fans take selfies with the Olympic mascot Tina at the finish area of an alpine ski, slalom portion of a women's team combined race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP)
Fans take selfies with the Olympic mascot Tina at the finish area of an alpine ski, slalom portion of a women's team combined race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP)
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Olympic Fans Hunt for Plushies of Mascots Milo and Tina as They Fly off Shelves 

Fans take selfies with the Olympic mascot Tina at the finish area of an alpine ski, slalom portion of a women's team combined race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP)
Fans take selfies with the Olympic mascot Tina at the finish area of an alpine ski, slalom portion of a women's team combined race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP)

For fans of the Milan Cortina Olympic mascots, the eponymous Milo and Tina, it's been nearly impossible to find a plush toy of the stoat siblings in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Many of the official Olympics stores in the host cities are already sold out, less than a week into the Winter Games.

“I think the only way to get them is to actually win a medal,” Julia Peeler joked Tuesday in central Milan, where Tina and Milo characters posed for photos with fans.

The 38-year-old from South Carolina is on the hunt for the plushies for her niece. She's already bought some mascot pins, but she won't wear them on her lanyard. Peeler wants to avoid anyone trying to swap for them in a pin trade, a popular Olympic pastime.

Tina, short for Cortina, is the lighter-colored stoat and represents the Olympic Winter Games. Her younger brother Milo, short for Milano, is the face of the Paralympic Winter Games.

Milo was born without one paw but learned to use his tail and turn his difference into a strength, according to the Olympics website. A stoat is a small mustelid, like a weasel or an otter.

The animals adorn merchandise ranging from coffee mugs to T-shirts, but the plush toys are the most popular.

They're priced from 18 to 58 euros (about $21 to $69) and many of the major official stores in Milan, including the largest one at the iconic Duomo Cathedral, and Cortina have been cleaned out. They appeared to be sold out online Tuesday night.

Winning athletes are gifted the plush toys when they receive their gold, silver and bronze medals atop the podium.

Broadcast system engineer Jennifer Suarez got lucky Tuesday at the media center in Milan. She's been collecting mascot toys since the 2010 Vancouver Games and has been asking shops when they would restock.

“We were lucky we were just in time,” she said, clutching a tiny Tina. “They are gone right now.”

Friends Michelle Chen and Brenda Zhang were among the dozens of fans Tuesday who took photos with the characters at the fan zone in central Milan.

“They’re just so lovable and they’re always super excited at the Games, they are cheering on the crowd,” Chen, 29, said after they snapped their shots. “We just are so excited to meet them.”

The San Franciscan women are in Milan for the Olympics and their friend who is “obsessed” with the stoats asked for a plush Tina as a gift.

“They’re just so cute, and stoats are such a unique animal to be the Olympic mascot,” Zhang, 28, said.

Annie-Laurie Atkins, Peeler's friend, loves that Milo is the mascot for Paralympians.

“The Paralympics are really special to me,” she said Tuesday. “I have a lot of friends that are disabled and so having a character that also represents that is just incredible.”