Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid are two clubs that have both come so close to winning Europe’s top prize, only to fall short at the last hurdle.
PSG finally reached the final of the Champions League in 2020, but were defeated 1-0 in Lisbon by Bayern Munich. Adding insult to injury, it was their former player Kingsley Coman who scored the lone goal.
Atletico, meanwhile, have reached the final of the Champions League/European Cup three times, and lost each time. In 1974, they too were defeated by Bayern, losing 4-0 in a replay after a 1-1 draw in Brussels.
Moving into the Champions League era, they returned to the final twice in the span of three seasons in 2014 and 2016, but were defeated by bitter rivals Real Madrid both times.
The first came in extra time in Lisbon after Sergio Ramos’ famous (or rather, infamous) game-tying goal in the third minute of second-half stoppage time, while the second was perhaps even more painful, coming via penalties after a 1-1 draw in Milan.
