@radek

From a TV Quiz Show to the UEFA Champions League 📺⚽

This is Valdas Dambrauskas in 2000, participating in Lithuanian edition of ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’. He was just a student that never played professional football. The money he won allowed him to go to England and attend multiple coaching courses. He managed to gain early experience at clubs like Manchester United, Fulham and Brentford. In 2007, he got a job at ninth-tier English side Kingsbury London Tigers and eventually led them to the best result in their history. He got 12 different managerial jobs afterwards, mainly in Baltic countries. There was some impressive local success, but there were also heartbreaks on his path. This year, he won domestic double with Azerbaijani side Sabah, despite Qarabag being firm favourites. Yesterday, he led Sabah to the league phase of the Champions League for the first time in their history. 🏆

UCL

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champions league final

The last time both teams scored in a champions league final was 2018 when Real Madrid defeated Liverpool 3-1 to complete a champions league three-peat. In 2019, Liverpool would get back to the champions league final and this time they won by shutting out Tottenham 2-0 to start the drought. In 2020, Bayern Munich won 1-0 against PSG in late August. Then in 2021, Kai Havertz scored the only goal of the game for Chelsea to win the battle of Premier League teams against Man City. Then in 2022, Real Madrid defeats Liverpool once again but this time they shut them out 1-0. In 2023, Man City completed the treble by beating Inter Milan 1-0 with the help of Lukaku, who blocked his teammates shot. In 2024, Real Madrid won their 5th champions league title in the last 9 years with two second half goals to win 2-0. And in 2025, PSG completely destroyed Inter Milan 5-0 in their first season without Mbappe. Today we will find out if this streak continues when PSG plays Arsenal.

@DonnyBrasco

UCL

Lucas Moura's 96th Minute

May 8, 2019. Amsterdam. Tottenham trailed Ajax 3-0 on aggregate at halftime of the Champions League semifinal second leg. The home team with Matthijs de Ligt, Frenkie de Jong, Hakim Ziyech had been the story of the tournament up to that point, dispatching Real Madrid and Juventus en route to the semis. Spurs needed three goals in 45 minutes to advance. Lucas Moura the Brazilian forward who hadn't started a UCL knockout game ALL SEASON would score them all. Goal one: 55th minute, scrambled finish through traffic. Goal two: 59th, low driven shot. 2-2 on aggregate suddenly, but Ajax still going through on away goals. The clock kept running. 70 minutes. 80. 90. Stoppage time. Five minutes added. 95:30. Spurs worked a final ball into the box. Dele Alli flicked it on. Lucas Moura met it with his right foot and rolled it past André Onana into the bottom corner. Final whistle. Tottenham 3, Ajax 2. 3-3 on aggregate, advancing on away goals. Spurs were heading to their first-ever Champions League final against Liverpool, who had pulled off their own miracle 24 hours earlier. Two of the greatest comebacks in UCL history. Back-to-back nights. The greatest semifinal week the tournament has ever known. Shoutout to @bleachcreetch for the inspo!

@fed

UCL

The One Bayern Let Go

At 17, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia thought he had his big break in Germany. Bayern saw him, had the chance to sign him after his trial, but eventually passed. Then life took him somewhere completely different and he started playing in Russia. Then Russia invaded Ukraine, FIFA allowed foreign players to walk away from their contracts, and Kvara left behind the money & security of his club to go back home to Georgia and play for Dinamo Batumi. That move changed everything. After an incredible first season, Napoli grabbed him for just 13 million euros and he helped bring them their first Scudetto since the glory days of Maradona. Later he made the move to PSG, and now the full circle moment is complete. The same club that passed on him at the age of 17 just watched him put in a man of the match performance to help knock them out of the Champions League. Bayern let the Kvara slip away, but now they’re reportedly trying hard not to make the same mistake with his little brother as they flew him in just last week for a trial. Sometimes football really does write itself