The Impossible Dream: Liverpool And The Miracle Of Istanbul On This Day In 2005

The Impossible Dream: Liverpool And The Miracle Of Istanbul On This Day In 2005
08:00, 25 May 2018

After 45 minutes of the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul, Liverpool fans both at the Ataturk Stadium and those watching around the world, must have feared the worst as the Reds stared a humiliating defeat in the face.

Completely outclassed by AC Milan, Rafael Benitez's men were facing the very real prospect of a high-profile capitulation after an impressive campaign had seen them reach the club’s sixth final in the tournament’s long and illustrious history.

Paolo Maldini had put the Italian side in front after just a minute when he met Pirlo's free-kick and swept the ball high past Jerzy Dudek, a goal which seemed to stun Liverpool, and two further strikes from Hernan Crespo appeared to have settled matters as the Liverpool players trudged dejectedly back into the changing rooms.

“I couldn't bear to lift my head up and glimpse the faces in the crowd, or the banners and red jerseys scattered around the Ataturk,” Jamie Carragher later revealed in his autobiography. “I looked towards the floor and saw nothing but endless dejection. My dreams had turned to dust.”

In a bold team change manager Rafael Benitez had excluded Igor Biscan as well as Dietmar Hamann  – who had been so influential in the campaign - in favour of Harry Kewell; a decision which appeared to have backfired as lack of a holding midfielder enabled Milan to breeze past Gerrard and Alonso.

And to make things worse, Kewell himself limped off after just 20 minutes only to compound the apparent ill-fated team selection of Benitez as Vladimir Smicer was thrown into the fray with Liverpool seemingly overwhelmed and completely out of their depth.

Another enforced change at half-time saw Steve Finnan, who had been struggling with injury, replaced by Hamman in what many saw as an exercise in damage limitation rather than an impact change as Benitez adopted a 3-5-3 formation in one of the greatest tactical changes ever seen.

“Rafa’s calm demeanour was never required more than now,” explains Carragher. “He showed few signs of emotion as he explained his changes. ‘Hamann will replace Finnan and we'll play 3-5-2,’ he explained. ‘Pirlo is running the game from midfield, so I want Luis and Stevie to play around him and outnumber them in the middle so he can't pass the ball.’”

And the changes proved to be inspired thanks to a crazy six minute period after the break which led to one of the most extraordinary second-halves in the history of Europe’s elite club competition which few could have predicted moments earlier.

A fine save by Dudek kept out a Shevchenko free-kick which not only prevented Liverpool going four down but also seemed to breathe life into a forlorn side which until now appeared to be totally shell shocked by what had hit them as the most unlikely of comebacks unfolded in front of millions of pairs of disbelieving eyes.

Steven Gerrard gave Liverpool a much-needed lifeline when he headed home a John Arne Riise's cross after 53 minutes, and when Milan ‘keeper Dida made a hash of Smicer's harmless-looking 25-yard effort a minute later, the Reds were back in business.

Liverpool's comeback was complete after an hour when Gattuso fouled Gerrard in the penalty area just as it appeared he was about to draw Liverpool level. Alonso's subsequent spot-kick was pawed away by Dida only for the Spaniard to follow-up and score from the rebound with Milan's defenders now looking at each other with a sense of bewilderment.

Just 15 minutes earlier the 20,000 or more Liverpool fans looked on from the stands in disbelief at what they were witnessing while many had even decided to leave at the break having already given up any hope of an unthinkable recovery.

After such a remarkable and frantic period the match became something of a cat and mouse affair with both sides having chances to win it; the greatest coming when Dudek fumbled a Crespo cross and Djimi Traore cleared off the line from Shevchenko’s follow-up.

Extra-time saw Milan dominate in a similar way to how they started the match and looking the stronger of the two sides as a combination of tired limbs and emotional fatigue took their toll and only a miraculous double-save by Dudek from Shevchenko kept the score level and led many of those who had lost hope at half-time to believe that it might just be their night.

If Milan had started the game in the best way possible they couldn’t have made more of a mess at the start of the shoot-out with Serginho and Pirlo both missing their first two penalties, while Hamann and Djibril Cisse converted for Liverpool.

Substitute Jon Dahl Tomasson and Kaka pulled the Italian side back into contention by scoring from the spot while Riise missed for Liverpool but it still meant that Andrej Shevchenko had to score; only for Liverpool’s Polish hero to guess right and ensure Liverpool won their fifth European Cup in the most miraculous circumstances imaginable.

“I was in shock,” explained Hernan Crespo who scored two goals for Milan that night. “When Liverpool scored the last penalty I was about to go to the dressing room, but then I stopped and said to myself: ‘No, it cannot be true that I am going to go and have a shower without having won the Champions League when we were 3-0 up.

“So I sat down behind the photographers. I had to see with my own eyes that Gerrard was actually going to lift the trophy.”

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