After Bayern Munich overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit to beat Lazio in their 2023/24 UEFA Champions League last-16 tie, bundesliga.com whips through five of their biggest comebacks to date in two-legged continental fare...

Match report: Bayern oust Lazio!

1) Juventus 2-2 Bayern / Bayern 4-2 Juventus (AET)
2015/16 Champions League round of 16

Pep Guardiola's Bayern held all the cards after scoring two away goals in Turin, but were staring elimination in the face just 28 minutes into the home leg at the Allianz Arena. Goals from Paul Pogba and Juan Cuadrado put the Italians firmly in control, only for Robert Lewandowski's 73rd-minute strike to wrestle back the initiative. Thomas Müller's 90th-minute equaliser sent the tie into extra-time, where substitutes Kingsley Coman - facing his then parent club - and Thiago Alcantara completed a comeback for the ages.

2) Malmo 1-0 Bayern/ Bayern 2-0 Malmo
1975/76 European Cup second round

Bayern's class of 2015/16 exited the competition in the last four, but their 1975/76 predecessors went the distance. Malmo proved their sternest test en route to claiming a third straight European Cup. The Swedish outfit were on course to land a major upset until Bernd Dürnberger scored from the penalty spot in the 59th minute to level the tie on aggregate. To add salt into the wound it was Sweden international Conny Torstensson who sealed the deal as Bayern marched on, beating Benfica and Real Madrid, before edging out Saint-Etienne in the final.

Franz Beckenbauer (r.) led Bayern past a dogged Malmo side, and to their third succesive European crown. - imago

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3) Real Madrid 3-2 Bayern/ Bayern 2-1 Real
2006/07 Champions League Round of 16

The tournament annals are dotted with memorable meetings between Bayern and Real, chief among them their 2006/07 last-16 clash. Madrid led 3-1 at half-time in the first leg, but a second away goal, from Mark van Bommel, gave Bayern a lifeline. Roy Maakay duly levelled the tie with the fastest Champions League goal just 10.12 seconds into the return fixture in Munich, before Lucio put 'La Bestia Negra' ('the Black Beast') ahead for the first time. Ruud van Nistelrooy's late penalty was not enough to prevent a team including Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidzic advancing on away goals.

4) Bayern 0-2 Inter Milan/ Inter 1-3 Bayern
1988/89 UEFA Cup third round

The away-goals rule was also on Bayern's side in the 1988/89 UEFA Cup third round. Having conceded two second-half goals without reply in Munich, the Bundesliga giants responded with three of their own in a devastating eight-minute spell on Italian soil. Roland Wohlfarth, Klaus Augenthaler and Jürgen Wegmann provided the lasting damage, despite Aldo Serena reducing the arrears before half-time with his second strike of the two-legged contest. A two-goal winning margin was the bare minimum requirement - and Bayern delivered.

Bayern overcame an Inter Milan team boasting Germany legend Lothar Matthäus in the 1988/89 UEFA Cup. - imago

5) Porto 3-1 Bayern/ Bayern 6-1 Porto
2014/15 Champions League quarter-finals

Bayern put in another devastating first-half performance to overcome a 3-1 deficit and beat Porto to reach the 2014/15 Champions League semi-finals. Needing at least a 2-0 win, Thiago and Jerome Boateng levelled matters inside 22 minutes. A Lewandowski brace either side of a Müller goal made it 5-0 on the night with only 40 minutes on the clock. Jackson Martinez pulled one back, only for Xabi Alonso to add the gloss following Ivan Marcano's 87th-minute sending off.

Robert Lewandowski (l.) and Thomas Müller (c.) more than played their part in a 7-4 aggregate win over Porto in 2014/15. - imago

To date, Bayern have overturned first-leg defeats to progress on 11 occasions in European competition. The other such occasions are:

Rapid Vienna 1-0 Bayern/ Bayern 2-0 Rapid Vienna
1966/67 Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals

Banik Ostrava 2-1 Bayern/ Bayern 5-0 Banik Ostrava
1976/77 European Cup second round

Kaiserslautern 1-0 Bayern/ Bayern 4-1 Kaiserslautern
1979/80 UEFA Cup quarter-finals

CSKA Sofia 4-3 Bayern/ Bayern 4-0 CSKA Sofia
1981/82 European Cup semi-finals

Neuchatel Xamax 2-1 Bayern/ Bayern 2-0 Neuchatel Xamax
1987/88 European Cup second round

Heart of Midlothian 1-0 Bayern/ Bayern 2-0 Heart of Midlothian 
1988/89 UEFA Cup quarter-finals

Basel 1-0 Bayern/ Bayern 7-0 Basel
2011/12 Champions League round of 16

The Champions League has also had a history of major second-leg comebacks.

Liverpool lost 3-0 in Barcelona in the 2018/19 semi-finals, only to win 4-0 at Anfield in a result that would serve Bayern just fine against City.

Barcelona also held a three-goal (4-1) lead in their 2017/18 quarter-final against Roma, only to lose 3-0 in Italy and go out on away goals (a rule that has since been abolished).

AC Milan had the same advantage from their 2003/04 quarter-final first leg against Deportivo La Coruna but then lost 4-0 in Spain.

And a result so famous it earned the name La Remontada, Barcelona became the only team in Champions League history to come from four goals down (4-0), winning 6-1 in the second leg of the 2016/17 round of 16 against Paris Saint-Germain.

Will we now see Der Comeback in Munich?

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