Liverpool, Norwich City, Aston Villa and the worst teams toreach and win major finals

After being thrashed by New Zealand and losing to Tonga in the pool stages, nearly blowing a 16-point lead against a poor England team, then only just crawling over the line against a 14-man Walesside in the semi final, France have been labelled as the worst team to reach a Rugby World Cupfinal.

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Not all champion teams look like odds on winners, however, as talkSPORT recalls...

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LIVERPOOL, 2005 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WINNERS

Despite winning one of the most dramatic finals in football history, Liverpool were arguably theworst team to be crowned European champions. They only qualified for the tournament afterfinishing fourth in the Premier League the previous season, 30 points behind champions Arsenal and15 behind third-placed Man United (by contrast, Liverpool were 15 points above 14th place). Havingscraped past Austrian side Grazer AK, losing the second leg 1-0 at Anfield for a narrow 2-1aggregate win, the Reds squeezed through on goal difference in the group stages after losing twice,away to Monaco and Olympiacos. The Reds found their form in the knockout stages, just edgingChelsea 1-0 over two legs of the semi final, despite finishing 37 points behind the Blues in thePremier League. In the final Rafa Benitez's team were taken apart by AC Milan, trailing 3-0 at half-time, before pulling off one of the all-time great comebacks, scoring three in just six second halfminutes. After drawing level, they somehow held on for a penalty shoot-out victory against all theodds, but were only able to defend their trophy after UEFA agreed to let them join the next season'spreliminary stages, having failed to finish in the Premier League's top four.

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GREECE, EURO 2004 WINNERS

Greece started the European Championships in 2004 as 150/1 rank outsiders to win their first evermajor competition. The only thing they were favourites for was to finish bottom of a tough groupcontaining hosts Portugal, Spain (ranked third in the world) and Russia (two places above Greece at31). The Greeks proceeded to stun the rest of Europe by beating hosts Portugal in the opening gameand then drawing against Spain. Defeat to Russia was compensated by qualification for the lasteight, in which Greece managed to defeat the defending champions and tournament favourites in ashock 1-0 win. Under the management of German Otto Rehhagel, the Greek's dour defensive tacticswere enough to see off Czech Republic en route to a final rematch with hosts Portugal. Again, theGreeks kept a clean sheet to stun the Portuguese with a 1-0 win, confounding once again their statusas 13th seeds in a 16-team tournament.

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LEEDS RHINOS, 2011 SUPER LEAGUE WINNERS

In 2011 Leeds Rhinos became the first rugby league team to finish fifth in Super League's regularseason, then go on to be crowned Grand Final winners. After losing 11 of their 27 regular seasongames, the Rhinos were forced to enter the play offs at the qualifying and elimination round,beatingHull FC to earn a place in the preliminary play off, where they overcame a Huddersfield team, thathad finished a place above them. In the semis Leeds faced regular season champions Warrington,who had finished 13 points clear of them, but were powerless to stop the Rhinos edging a tight clash26-24. St Helens lay in wait for the Rhinos, as the two went head-to-head in a Grand Final for thefourth time in five seasons. Like the previous three meetings, Leeds emerged triumphant, while thetwo best teams from the regular season, Warrington and Wigan, could only look on in envy.

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ASTON Villa, 1982 EUROPEAN CUP WINNERS

Having surprised everyone by winning the First Division title in 1981, Aston Villa won the EuropeanCup at the first attempt, sneaking past favourites Bayern Munich in the final. In doing so, Villabecame the worst team to win a European Cup when taking into account where they finisheddomestically, having ended that year's First Division season in 11th place, having lost as manygames (15) as they won. Villa had edged past Icelandic minnows Valur in the first round, thenEastern European opposition Dynamo Berlin on away goals, before knocking out Dynamo Kiev andsqueaking past Anderlecht in the semi final with a single strike from Tony Morley early in the firstleg. A Peter Withe goal gave them a narrow, yet glorious win in the Rotterdam showpiece, belyingtheir mediocre mid-table placing at home.

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Norwich CITY, 1985 LEAGUE CUP WINNERS

The last team to achieve the unwanted distinction of winning a major trophy and being relegatedfrom the top flight before Birmingham City (2011 Carling Cup/Premier League relegation) wasNorwich City, who followed up their 1985 League Cup success at Wembley by being relegated fromthe old First Division. Mind you, at least they had some silverware to console them, unlike the teamthey beat to lift the cup - losing finalists Sunderland were also relegated from the top flight thatseason.

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Swindon Town, 1969 LEAGUE CUP WINNERS

When Arsenal faced Birmingham City in the 2011 League Cup final, many people felt it was aforgone conclusion that they would end their six-year trophy drought and were shocked when Bluesemerged with the silverware. In 1969, Arsenal had gone 16 years without winning a trophy and wereeven bigger favourites to lift the cup, facing Third Division Swindon Town in the final. While the

Robins finished second in Division Three that season, Arsenal were going great guns near the top ofDivision One and were stunned to lose 3-1 in extra time to the lowest-placed team to win the LeagueCup.

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