Since the European Cup became the UEFA Champions League in 1992-93, clubs from England, Spain, Germany and Italy have won 29 of the 34 titles. The only exceptions are Marseille (1993), Ajax (1995), Porto (2004) and Paris Saint-Germain, who won it in 2025 and again in 2026. Real Madrid hold the record with 15 European titles, and Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Liverpool have all won it in the Champions League era too.
Every few seasons, though, a side arrives with no one tipping them and goes on a run that people remember for years. Most of them fall short; one or two go all the way. Here are five of the best underdog runs in the Champions League.
Bayer Leverkusen (2001-02)
Leverkusen’s 2001-02 season ended with three runners-up medals. They were chasing a treble until the last couple of weeks, then finished second in the Bundesliga, lost the DFB-Pokal final 4-2 to Schalke on 11 May, and four days later lost the Champions League final. They were only the second club, after Barcelona in 1986, to finish runners-up in the league, the domestic cup and the European Cup in the same season.
Their Champions League run was the bright part. Leverkusen knocked out Liverpool 4-3 on aggregate in the quarter-finals and Manchester United on away goals (3-3) in the semi-finals. In the final at Hampden Park in Glasgow on 15 May 2002, Raúl put Real Madrid ahead, Lúcio equalised five minutes later, and Zinedine Zidane’s left-footed volley on the stroke of half-time won it 2-1. Leverkusen had the better of the second half but could not find an equaliser.
The club finally got its title in 2023-24, when Leverkusen became the first team to go through a whole Bundesliga season unbeaten, with 28 wins and six draws.
FC Porto (2003-04)
Porto edge Deportivo La Coruña for this spot because Porto went on to win the trophy, beating Deportivo in the semi-finals. They were the first club from outside the big four leagues to win the Champions League since Ajax in 1995, and it was the breakthrough season for a young José Mourinho.
Porto were not favourites when the tournament began. They finished second to Real Madrid in their group, then knocked out Manchester United in the round of 16 (Costinha’s injury-time goal earned a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford), Lyon 4-2 on aggregate in the quarter-finals and Deportivo 1-0 in the semi-finals. By the final they had already won the Primeira Liga. Against Monaco, another underdog, at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen on 26 May 2004, goals from Carlos Alberto, Deco and Dmitri Alenichev gave Porto a 3-0 win, and Deco was Man of the Match. Mourinho left for Chelsea a week later.
AS Monaco (2016-17)
Monaco’s 2016-17 squad had Fabinho, João Moutinho, Radamel Falcao, Thomas Lemar, Bernardo Silva and a teenage Kylian Mbappé, and under Leonardo Jardim they won Ligue 1 as well as tearing through Europe.
They had to start in the qualifiers, beating Fenerbahçe and then Villarreal to reach the group stage. They won their group, sealing first place with a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur, who finished third and dropped into the Europa League. In the round of 16 Monaco lost 5-3 at Manchester City, won the return 3-1 and went through on away goals; in the quarter-finals they beat Borussia Dortmund 6-3 on aggregate. Juventus were too solid for them in the semi-finals, winning 4-1 on aggregate.
AFC Ajax (2018-19)
Ajax won the European Cup three times in a row in the 1970s and the Champions League in 1995. In 2018-19 Erik ten Hag’s young side had to start in the qualifiers, and beat Sturm Graz, Standard Liège and Dynamo Kyiv to reach the group stage, where they won three and drew three, including a 1-1 draw in Munich and a 3-3 draw at home with group winners Bayern.
The knockout rounds were where they shone. After losing the first leg 2-1 at home, Ajax won 4-1 at the Bernabéu to knock out the holders Real Madrid 5-3 on aggregate, then drew 1-1 with Juventus in Amsterdam and won 2-1 in Turin. In the semi-finals they won 1-0 at Tottenham and led 2-0 at half-time in the return through Matthijs de Ligt and Hakim Ziyech, before Lucas Moura scored a second-half hat-trick, the winner in the sixth minute of stoppage time. The tie finished 3-3 and Tottenham went through on away goals.
Villarreal (2021-22)
Unai Emery’s Villarreal finished seventh in La Liga in 2021-22, but in Europe they knocked out two of the favourites. In the round of 16 they drew 1-1 at home with Juventus and then won 3-0 in Turin. In the quarter-finals Arnaut Danjuma’s early goal gave them a 1-0 home win over Bayern Munich, and a 1-1 draw in Munich put them through 2-1 on aggregate. Liverpool ended the run in the semi-finals, winning 2-0 at Anfield and 3-2 in Villarreal.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Pascal Guyot