The 5 greatest Cinderella stories in football history

Leicester City's occupation of the Premier League throne in those first few months was generally passed off as a fun, yet implausible, scenario with the confidence that the league's perennial contenders would eventually restore order.

Thankfully, Claudio Ranieri's men broke the mold.

With three points separating dreams from reality, Leicester is on the verge of becoming the latest team to spoil its supporters with the level of success previous generations always dreamed about but never thought was possible.

While Leicester's unexpected rise to prominence is a rare feature in England, its deviation from the norm, surprisingly, isn't that uncommon throughout Europe.

Here's a quick look at some of the most memorable Cinderella teams:

Nottingham Forest - 1977

Hopes of winning promotion occupied the minds of those associated with Nottingham Forest by the time Brian Clough took charge in 1975.

Luckily, the famous manager had bigger dreams after joining a club toiling in England's second division.

The euphoria of reclaiming its spot in the top flight was quickly eclipsed by the once incomprehensible prospect of Nottingham winning its first league title during its first season back. After losing just three games all season, Nottingham won the title and continues to be the last team to win the first division during its first season after promotion.

Clinching the top flight crown, however, was just the beginning as the magical 1977 campaign was followed by back-to-back European Cup trophies.

Dundee United - 1983

In a league where parity died 50 years ago, Scotland's top flight has been the stage for one of the most lopsided competitions in Europe with the Old Firm storming towards a staggering collection of trophies that accounts for over 80 percent of first division trophies ever won.

So it's fair to say that when a team has a sniff at getting close to Celtic and Rangers, it's a pretty big deal.

Shortly after the beginning of Rangers and Celtic's comical grip on the league in the 1960's, Dundee United finally outpaced the Goliaths to win its first league trophy with a dramatic title-clinching victory on the final day of the season.

It was the team's first championship after failing to ever finish higher than third, and began a three-year spell of keeping the trophy out of Glasgow. But yet another long period of the Old Firm's rule over Scottish football has now produced a run of dominance with little evidence of capable contenders waiting in the wings.

Denmark - 1992

Before Greece pulled off one of the more shocking moments on the international stage in 2004, there was Denmark, who hadn't even qualified for the European Championship before going on to win the tournament in 1992.

The beneficiaries of the vacant spot Yugoslavia was forced to relinquish during a period of unrest before the eastern European nation was broken up, Denmark wasn't given much of a chance after learning of its qualification just over a week before the competition kicked off.

Summer vacation plans gave way to one of the most remarkable performances in the tournament's history as Denmark manufactured an unlikely journey to the finals, where the daunting task of facing West Germany awaited.

But, of course, the match proved to be Denmark's most decisive performance, with the Scandinavian nation producing its biggest win (2-0 over West Germany) of the tournament before hoisting its first major piece of silverware.

Kaiserslautern - 1998

During an era when Germany's top flight was seemingly going through a transition with Borussia Dortmund emerging as a dominant force after back-to-back titles - snapping a drought that lasted over 30 years - and Bayern Munich struggling to maintain its stranglehold on the league, newly promoted Kaiserslautern FC was just looking to avoid a repeat of the horror season that saw it get relegated after years of consistently finishing in the top half of the table.

Instead, Otto Rehhagel's men went on to stun Germany by raising the Bundesliga trophy in May - one year after producing the point total (68) that was good enough to win promotion the previous spring.

Atletico Madrid - 2014

The two-horse race in Spain was abruptly interrupted when Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid squad stunned the football world with its unlikely La Liga triumph in 2014.

In the midst of what could go down as the greatest player rivalry in the history of the game, Atletico offered a refreshing view at the top of the Liga table when it usurped Barcelona and Real Madrid at the peak of the Spanish table.

Diego Godin's equaliser on the last day against Barca secured the team's first La Liga trophy in 18 years - a period that only saw only two teams outside of the aforementioned big two hoist the Spanish championship.