Seven away teams have won by six or more goals in Champions League history and three of those victories were by seven goals.
Even with the disparity in finances and player quality, it’s relatively rare a team wins by four, five, six, or seven goals on the road in the Champions League.
Sometimes that’s because a team will take their foot off the gas if they build an early lead, but it also reflects how difficult it is winning away from home in continental competition.
According to the official Champions League website, here are the biggest away wins in Champions League history:
Shakhtar Donetsk 0-6 Borussia Monchengladbach – 2020/21
Meeting in Group B of the 2020 Champions League group stage, Shakhtar Donetsk were fortunate to only lose by six goals. Borussia Monchengladbach had a 4-0 advantage at half-time at NSK Olimpiiskyi.
Alassane Plea led the way with a hat-trick as Gladbach recorded their heaviest away win in 47 years. Despite a thumping victory, the Bundesliga side had less possession than their hosts.
The teams both finished on eight points. Gladbach progressed to the knockout rounds and were easily knocked out by Manchester City. Shakhtar fell into the Europa League and were eliminated by Roma.
Roma 1-7 Bayern Munich – 2014/15
Trailing 5-0 before the 40th minute, Roma were thoroughly outclassed by Bayern Munich at the Stadio Olimpico in 2014.
A consolation goal from Gervinho in the 66th minute got the scoreline back to 5-1 before late strikes from Franck Ribery and Xherdan Shaqiri.
Pep Guardiola’s Bayern went on to make further Champions League history by beating Shakhtar Donetsk 7-0 in the last 16 before a 6-1 drubbing of Porto in the quarterfinals.
Despite one of the competition’s most dominant attacks, Bayern were unable to reach the final. Defeated by Barcelona in the last four, Guardiola saw his former team win the trophy, while he had to wait until 2023 to win his next Champions League.
Barcelona 2-8 Bayern Munich – 2019/20
One of the most shocking results in Champions League history, it’s rare Barcelona are football betting underdogs at home.
Bayern Munich were fancied to win at the Camp Nou in this quarter-final meeting, but no one expected a six-goal advantage for the Bavarian club.
It was 1-1 after seven minutes following a David Alaba own goal. Barcelona were 4-1 down just after the half-hour mark.
Hopes of a comeback when Luis Suarez scored in the 57th minute were brief with Joshua Kimmich reinstating the three-goal lead a few moments later.
Robert Lewandowski scored his only goal of the game in the 82nd minute before the Barcelona loanee rubbed yet more salt in the wounds of his parent club with a late brace.
Dinamo Zagreb 1-7 Lyon – 2011/12
Dinamo Zagreb overcame three qualifying rounds to reach the group stage of the 2011/12 Champions League.
Their reward was a group featuring Real Madrid, Lyon, and Ajax. The Croatian club lost all six of their matches, scoring only three goals and conceding 22. Seven of those 22 came when Lyon visited Zagreb.
Mateo Kovacic gave Dinamo a 1-0 lead in the 40th minute. Hope of an upset was quickly extinguished with Lyon scoring four goals within seven minutes either side of half-time. Bafetembi Gomis scored three of those and added another in the 70th minute.
Maribor 0-7 Liverpool – 2017/18
Among the Champions League betting favourites to win the competition in 2017/18, Liverpool made a statement by hammering Maribor 7-0 in the group stage. The Reds went on to lose the final to Real Madrid.
Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho, and Mohamed Salah scored in the first 20 minutes, ending the match as a contest.
Salah added a second before half-time. Firmino, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Trent Alexander-Arnold netted in the second half.
Remarkably, this wasn’t the only 7-0 of the competition for Jurgen Klopp’s side. They also beat Spartak Moscow 7-0 at Anfield (one of the biggest home wins in Champions League history) but failed to win three of their other four group fixtures.
BATE Borisov 0-7 Shakhtar Donetsk – 2014/15
Four goals in 16 first-half minutes from Luiz Adriano put Shakhtar Donetsk 6-0 up at half-time against BATE Borisov in the 2014/15 Champions League. Alex Texeira and Douglas Costa also found the net before the break.
Adriano added his fifth in the 82nd minute from the penalty spot. BATE were fortunate Shakhtar didn’t reach double figures given how dominant they were in the first period.
Adriano became the second player in Champions League history to score five goals in a game - Lionel Messi was the first to achieve the feat. The pair have since been joined by Erling Haaland.
Žilina 0-7 Marseille – 2010/11
Marseille’s 7-0 win over Žilina in the 2010 Champions League group stage was the biggest margin of victory in the competition’s history until Shakhtar hammered BATE four years later.
A brace from André-Pierre Gignac helped the visitors take a 4-0 lead after 36 minutes. Gignac completed his hat-trick in the second half and Lucho Gonzalez scored a brace.
*Credit for the photos in this article belongs to Adobe*
