If Barcelona require extra inspiration as they prepare their bid to overturn a 4-0 Champions League semi-final deficit at home to Bayern Munich tonight, they need look no further than La Liga rivals Deportivo La Coruna.
Depor pulled off one of the most sensational comebacks in Europe’s elite club competition back in the 2003-04 season when they thrashed Milan 4-0 in their quarter-final second leg in La Coruna to shock the reigning continental champions and progress to the last four 5-4 on aggregate.
Uruguayan forward Walter Pandiani scored the opening goal in the fifth minute at the Riazor on that memorable April night, when the Galician club stunned a Milan side featuring Paolo Maldini, Kaka and Andriy Shevchenko.
Now 37 and playing in the Spanish third tier for Majorca-based Atletico Baleares, Pandiani believes Barca will also need an early goal if they are to have any chance of reaching this month’s final at London’s Wembley stadium.
“Scoring so early in the match was key for the team to gain confidence,” Pandiani, whose goal-scoring prowess earned him the nickname “The Rifle”, told reporters.
“If you don’t manage to score in the first half, as soon as possible, then you start to rush things,” he added.
Barca’s chances of keeping alive their bid for a third European crown in five years may appear remote, especially as they failed to score in Munich, but Pandiani said Depor were in a similar situation in 2004.
“Even if we were achieving important things in the Champions League nobody believed in us, especially because it was Milan we were up against,” he said.
“But we believed in ourselves and our fans were also there to spur us on.”
On the evidence of Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Athletic Bilbao, Barca’s hopes today will again rest on the shoulders of Lionel Messi.
Messi was initially rested in Bilbao and Barca found their cutting edge only when he replaced midfielder Xavi on the hour before scoring once and setting up Alexis Sanchez.
He appeared short on fitness and was well shackled by the Bayern players in Munich last week and even the talismanic Argentine may not be able to rescue Barca’s Champions League campaign this time.
They already had to come from behind to get past Milan in the last 16 when they lost 2-0 in Italy before Messi inspired them to a rousing 4-0 victory at the Nou Camp.
Only three clubs have overturned a four-goal first-leg deficit in UEFA competition and Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes was on the losing side on one of those occasions.
He was in charge of the Borussia M’ gladbach side that beat Real Madrid 5-1 at home in the 1985-86 UEFA Cup third round only to lose the return game 4-0.
“It was the worst moment of my career. I no longer wanted to be a football coach,” Heynckes said.
Elimination for Barca would leave La Liga as their only chance of silverware this season and, with an 11-point lead over current champions Real Madrid with five games left, they are close to a fourth title in five seasons.
Meanwhile, six Bayern players, including captain Philipp Lahm, central defender Dante and playmaker Bastian Schweinsteiger, will miss the final if they pick up another yellow card.