Leeds United: Fans love Champions League throwback

Plenty of Leeds United fans have looked back on the club’s memorable 2001 Champions League run which saw them beat Deportivo La Coruna 3-0 in the quarter-final.

The Whites produced a superb display at Elland Road against Deportivo, who were at the time, La Liga champions.

The Spanish visitors had a number of quality players on show with the likes of Djalminha, Diego Tristan and Roy Makaay all standing out. It proved to be a tricky encounter but it would be Leeds who produced a superb first leg performance, sealing a 3-0 win without reply.

Republic of Ireland full-back Ian Harte would open the scoring in the 27th minute to send the home crowd into celebration, before a second goal would follow after the half-time break.

Alan Smith would be the goalscorer, netting past Jose Francisco Molina in the Depor goal to enhance the English club’s lead. With Leeds in full control, Rio Ferdinand would add gloss to the result, making it 3-0 just after the hour mark.

The second leg in Spain would see the Spanish side secure a 2-0 win, seeing Leeds progress to the semi-final stage, but it proved to be a step too far for the English side, losing to Valencia 3-0 on aggregate.

Looking back on the historic European run, Leeds fans reacted to a club tweet, sharing the goals from the game.

📅 “Keep believing, the impossible dream is still alive” #OnThisDay in 2001, #LUFC defeated @RCDeportivo 3-0 in the Champions League Quarter Finals pic.twitter.com/ivVfWmwF6k

— Leeds United (@LUFC) April 4, 2020

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Just a reminder how good this team was. Smith should be loved and probably isn’t, Kewell should be loved and definitely isn’t, even Rio should be loved. Amazing team and performance. The commentator was right, the difference a 3rd goal would make.

— JD (@MrJD83JohnDay) April 4, 2020