What Does 'Bottling It' Mean In Professional Sports?

What Does the Phrase 'Bottling It' REALLY mean?

The phrase 'bottling it' has been used for decades, and transcends beyond football into other sports and across the globe.

Fans of football, basketball, rugby and more have all used the phrase, but what is its true meaning and what are some of the biggest past examples of teams 'bottling it'.

In short, the term 'bottling it', often also referred to as 'bottlejob' in sport refers to when a player, or more commonly; team, failing to achieve success in a scenario where it seemed far more possible it would be achieved than not. To 'bottle it' would mean succumbing to pressure and/or losing nerve and failing from a previously strong position as a result.

This can relate to a team on top of a league table for the majority of a campaign before falling away towards the end and coming up short, going on a poor run of form and getting relegated after little danger for months, or as simple as having a strong lead in a match and ending up losing.

The term surrounds a team that should achieve success, but end up snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. WIth that, here is some examples of the biggest 'bottlejobs' in recent football history.

FC Barcelona 6-1 PSG (2017)

One of the biggest collapses in an individual fixture in the history of European football, PSG must have already been thinking of who they would be facing in the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals when they trashed Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of their round-of-16 tie.

📅 On this day in 2017, Barcelona beat PSG 6-1 to complete one of the greatest European comebacks of all time 🤯

What a night of football. pic.twitter.com/nsUlyPtai9

— 433 (@433) March 8, 2023

However, Unai Emery's Parisians completely crumbled in the second leg at the Nou Camp in Catalonia.

Luis Suarez have Barcelona the perfect start in the third minute, before an own-goal from Kurzawa pulled another back for Lionel Messi and co. just before half-time.

The Argentine scored a penalty five minutes into the second half to reduce the deficet to just single goal. However, a strike from Edinson Cavani on the hour secured a crucial away goal for the French side.

Needing three goals with two minutes of normal time to play, Neymar fired in a free-kick just before added time, before he added another from the spot three minutes later.

On this day in 2017, Barcelona came back from a 4-0 first leg deficit against PSG to win 6-1 at the Nou Camp and go through 6-5 on aggregate.

Here’s the final 7 minutes of one of the most bonkers matches anyone has ever seen.

pic.twitter.com/HxXFhAxbPv

— HLTCO (@HLTCO) March 8, 2023

Now once again just needing one more to qualify, a last throw of the dice saw a cross go into the PSG box, and Sergi Roberto met the delivery and turned home to send the Nou Camp crowd, and the Barcelona bench absolutely bonkers.

Borussia Dortmund (2023)

A failure in one match which had huge consequences on the overall season, a poor start to the campaign saw any potential hopes of Borussia Dortmund challenging Bayern Munich for the Bundesliga title look slim.

However, an incredible turn of form from the turn of the year saw nine wins from ten between January and March, putting Dortmund right in the fight for the German Championship. In May, Dortmund won three in a row heading into the final match of the season, beating VfL Wolfsburg 6-0, Borussia Monchengladbach 5-2, and FC Augsburg 0-3.

Borussia Dortmund have won every game they've played in 2023 🤯 pic.twitter.com/kptr2HLA7r

— GOAL (@goal) March 3, 2023

Going to the final match of the season, it looked like the dream of a first Bundesliga title in 11 years for Dortmund was right in their grasp. With the task for BVB plan and simple, all they had to do was defeat mid-table Mainz 05 at home and regardless of how Bayern's match away at FC Koln went, Dortmund would be champions.

However, incredibly, Dortmund failed. Managing to only draw 2-2 at Signal Iduna Park, whilst Bayern won n Koln to become champions once again, this time on goal difference, with many Dortmund players, including Jude Bellingham, visibly distressed following the full-time whistle.

Dortmund are distraught 🏆❌

A painful way to lose the Bundesliga title pic.twitter.com/FCE2uxEcOB

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) May 27, 2023

Walsall (2025)

A niche example, and one that many not be familiar with, but Walsall's 2024/25 season proved to be one of the biggest 'bottlejobs' in modern EFL history.

The Saddlers had a superb start to the season, which saw them lead the way at the top of EFL League Two from the first weeks to New Years Day.

On the first day of 2025, Walsall were 12 points clear at the top of the table, not only looking set for promotion to the third tier, but also the EFL League Two title.

🤯 Walsall were 14 points clear in mid January.

Today, they lost the playoff final and their performance was embarrassing.

One of the biggest bottles in the history of the sport. pic.twitter.com/R2pORnKuLj

— The 44 ⚽️ (@The_Forty_Four) May 26, 2025

However, the unthinkable happened to the Saddlers in the second half of the campaign following the start of 2025. Following the turn of the year, Walsall went on a disastrous run of form. A run which saw just two wins in seventeen matches, with ten going without a single win, resulting in Mat Sadler's side fall out the automatic promotion spots and eventually finishing fourth.

The 4th place finish led to Walsall needing success in the play-offs to achieve promotion, and escape the possibility of one of THE great EFL collapses. Sadler's team did enough to reach the final at Wembley, however were defeated by AFC Wimbledon, meaning despite being 12 points clear at the top of the league in early January, Walsall failed to gain promotion.