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Surprise Champions League finalists
Being one win away from becoming a European champion can't have been the first thing on Andrew Robertson's mind back when he was relegated to the Championship with Hull in 2015. Ahead of Liverpool’s date with destiny (and Real Madrid) this weekend, we pick out 13 players who surprisingly played in Champions League finals.
Stefano Nava, Milan (1994)
Nava played just 21 league matches for Milan during his five years at the club, but the centre-back at least has the legitimate excuse that he was competing with the likes of Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacurta and Franco Baresi for a spot in the Rossoneri’s line-up.
Nava did get on the field during the 1994 Champions League Final, though, entering the fray in place of Maldini late on. Fabio Capello’s men were 4-0 up by that point, with pre-game favourites Barcelona humbled by a Milan side who had scored only 36 goals to win Serie A that term.
Michele Padovano, Juventus (1996)
In 1997 Crystal Palace surprisingly signed two members of the Juventus squad who had won the previous year's Champions League. Attilio Lombardo was a resounding success at Selhurst Park and is still considered the most talented player to have ever represented the club by many Eagles fans, but Padovano (left) - scorer of one goal in 12 league appearances for the south Londoners - didn't fare quite as well.
The striker replaced Fabrizio Ravanelli in the 77th minute of the 1996 final against Ajax, which was eventually settled by a penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 draw. He went on to play for Metz and Como after leaving Palace, and was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment for drug trafficking in 2006.
Nordin Wooter, Ajax (1996)
Watford broke their transfer record when they snapped up Wooter for £950,000 in 1999, but Hornets fans still thought they had got themselves a bargain given the winger’s European pedigree.
Wooter’s playing career later took him to Portugal, Greece, Turkey and Cyprus, but it was at Ajax that the uncapped Dutchman made the breakthrough in the mid-1990s. The then-teenager appeared as an extra-time substitute in the 1996 Champions League Final, which the Amsterdammers lost to Juventus on penalties.
Roque Junior, Milan (2003)
Roque Junior owned World Cup and Champions League medals by the time he embarked on a loan spell at Leeds in 2003, but the defender didn’t live up to his billing at Elland Road and his career rather petered out thereafter.
The Brazilian was part of Milan’s Europe-conquering squad in 2002-03, appearing as a 66th-minute substitute in the final against Juventus. The two teams couldn’t be separated after two hours of goalless action, but it was Milan who kept their cool to emerge victorious on penalties at Old Trafford.
Gael Givet and Sebastien Squillaci, Monaco (2004)
Followers of the Premier League will associate Givet and Squillaci with their mixed success at Blackburn and Arsenal respectively, but before that the two men formed a centre-back partnership at Monaco.
Squillaci was a substitute for the 2004 final against Porto – Jose Mourinho’s men ran out 3-0 winners – but he was brought on with 18 minutes left to play. Givet, meanwhile, started alongside Julien Rodriguez in the centre of the Ligue 1 outfit’s defence, but he was powerless to resist as Porto proved too strong.
Djimi Traore, Liverpool (2005)
Rafael Benitez may have won back-to-back La Liga titles with Valencia, but the greatest achievement of his managerial career so far is guiding a Liverpool team featuring Traore at left-back to Champions League glory in 2005.
The Malian made 42 appearances in all competitions for the Merseysiders that campaign, including in the Istanbul final against Milan. Traore’s suspect positioning contributed to Liverpool’s 3-0 half-time deficit, but a remarkable turnaround in the second period meant the future Charlton and Portsmouth defender ended the night a European champion.
Jermaine Pennant, Liverpool (2007)
The Liverpool XI which lost the 2007 Champions League Final to Milan was stronger than the one which beat the same opponents two years before, with Javier Mascherano and Pepe Reina both upgrades on what went before. Pennant was another newcomer by the time of the Athens decider, which was settled by Pippo Inzaghi’s two goals either side of half-time.
Fabio da Silva, Man United (2011)
Rafael, not Fabio, was the Da Silva twin who made the bigger impact at Old Trafford, playing 169 games (113 more than his brother) during his seven seasons at Manchester United. He missed the 2011 Champions League Final through injury, though, so it was Fabio who got the nod at right-back against Barcelona at Wembley.
Ryan Bertrand, Chelsea (2012)
Chelsea’s failure to integrate more of their academy graduates into the senior squad has been a talking point for several years, but it’s often forgotten that Bertrand – a player who joined the club at the age of 15 – was involved in arguably the greatest achievement in the club’s history in 2012.
Jose Sosa, Atletico Madrid (2014)
Gabi, Juanfran, Koke and Diego Godin have been ever-present throughout Atletico Madrid’s recent period of success under Diego Simeone’s leadership, while Diego Costa and Filipe Luis both returned to the club after leaving for Chelsea.
Some players had rather shorter stays in the Spanish capital, though, and all three of los Colchoneros’ used substitutes in the 2014 final against Real Madrid left the club soon after: Toby Alderweireld joined Southampton on loan, Adrian Lopez moved to Porto and loanee Jose Sosa returned to parent club Metalist Kharkiv before being sold to Besiktas.
Mario Lemina, Juventus (2017)
Lemina spent 2017-18 battling against relegation with Southampton; a year ago, he was getting ready for a Champions League final with Juventus. The Gabonese featured six times on the road to Cardiff, helping the Bianconeri advance to their second final in three seasons at the expense of Porto, Barcelona and Monaco.
Named among the substitutes against Real Madrid, Lemina was introduced with 12 minutes left to play. By then, though, Juve’s hopes of lifting the trophy were all but over: Zinedine Zidane’s side held a 3-1 lead which was extended by Marco Asensio late on.
