Newcastle United 2003

Coach: Bobby Robson

Bobby Robson's Newcastle United endured one of the most dramatic group-stage turnarounds in Champions League history in 2002-03, losing their opening three matches — a run that appeared to end their European campaign before it had really begun — before winning the next three to somehow qualify for the competition's second group stage, a format used at the time before the tournament settled into its now-familiar single group-into-knockout structure. Alan Shearer, the Premier League's all-time record goalscorer and a boyhood Newcastle supporter turned club captain, led the line, while a young Kieron Dyer provided pace and creativity from midfield in a squad that Robson, in his mid-sixties by this point in a long and storied managerial career, had rebuilt into genuine top-four Premier League contenders. The group-stage comeback became an instant part of Newcastle folklore, still referenced whenever the club's European nights at St James' Park from this era come up in conversation among supporters, remembered as one of the highlights of the stadium's modern history even without a trophy to show for it.