'The greatest comeback since Lazarus!' Boro's 2005/06 European Fairytale

When Middlesbrough left the Stadio Olimpico in March 2006 with an away goal-aided triumph over Roma in the Last 16 of the UEFA Cup, you would have been forgiven for thinking that was the best it could get for the Teessiders in Europe. Against a historically renowned Roma side: that had reached a European Cup final; had won a Serie A title in the past five years; and had a squad comprising Francesco Totti, Samuel Kuffour, and Vincenzo Montella, Boro would progress despite a 2-1 defeat in the Italian capital. Even manager Steve McClaren felt that this was the pinnacle of a remarkable season. ‘You don't have nights like this very often in your career; it ranks as one of the best in mine’, said the future England head coach. Yet, this was going to be European campaign so monumental that this triumph over Roma wasn’t even going to be the talk of Teesside a few weeks later. A European season so memorable that it’s easy to forget that in this same campaign, Boro scored league victories ov