Bouncing back: Why Aston Villa v Chelsea is not a formality

Aston Villa take on Chelsea tomorrow having been beaten 7-1 at Stamford Bridge last month. All is not lost, however, as plenty of teams have bounced back against sides who have dished out hammerings earlier in the same season: 20 June 1954 Hungary 8-3 West Germany 4 July 1954 Hungary 2-3 West Germany West Germany hid their light under a bushel, fielding a reserve side when they met the apparently invincible Hungarians in the group stages of the 1954 World Cup. They were thrashed, but their strongest XI triumphed in a final that became known as "The Miracle of Berne". 26 December 1963 West Ham 2-8 Blackburn 28 December 1963 Blackburn 1-3 West Ham The old Christmas fixture list, with back-to-back games between the same teams, allowed for instant revenge. Never was it more dramatic than this, with West Ham recovering from a Boxing Day pummelling to win away to the league leaders Blackburn two days later. 26 August 1980 Southampton 4-0 Watford 2 September 1980 Watford 7-1 Southampton When Southampton, the joint leaders of the first division, trounced Watford, mid-table in the second, in the first leg of their League Cup tie, the overall result seemed a formality. But Watford scored all eight goals – one an own-goal – on a crazy night at Vicarage Road and triumphed in extra-time. 12 September 1989 Liverpool 9-0 Crystal Palace 8 April 1990 Crystal Palace 4-3 Liverpool Newly promoted Palace looked painfully out of their depth at Anfield early in the season but by April they were comfortable and beat Liverpool in one of the most magnificently barmy FA Cup semi-finals of them all. 25 October 1997 Manchester United 7-0 Barnsley 25 February 1998 Barnsley 3-2 Manchester United Andy Cole scored a first-half hat-trick and Barnsley were savaged at Old Trafford in the league, but four months later they put United out of the FA Cup in a famous fifth-round replay. 29 February 2000 Real Madrid 2-4 Bayern Munich 8 March 2000 Bayern Munich 4-1 Real Madrid 9 May 2000 Real Madrid 3-2 Bayern Munich (agg) Bayern thrashed a browbeaten Madrid home and away in the second group stage of the Champions League. When they reconvened in the semi-finals two months later, Madrid's mojo had returned and they dumped Bayern out. 8 August 2009 Norwich 1-7 Colchester 16 January 2010 Colchester 0-5 Norwich Paul Lambert's Colchester humiliated Norwich on the opening day of this season – so Norwich appointed him as their new manager, and Lambert's Norwich exorcised the ghosts with a 5-0 win at Colchester in January.