ONE Night in Istanbul



25-May-2005


Build Up

It was the night I can't forget in my entire life. The night of the UEFA Champions League Final in the Attaturk Stadium in Istanbul (Turkey) between the underdogs Liverpool F.C. against the mighty AC Milan.

30,000 Die Hard Liverpool fans flown into the city of Istanbul to enjoy the match. Liverpool had an extraordinary Champions League campaign that season beating the likes of Bayern Leverkusen, Juventus and Chelsea en route to reaching their first European Cup final in two decades. But they were up against the mighty AC Milan who had a team packed with superstars with the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Shevchenko, Kaka, Hernan Crespo, Alessandro Nesta, Paolo Maldini and Cafu.

On the other hand Liverpool had a comparatively young and inexperience squad leading by their inspirational skipper Steven Gerrard. Harry Kewell was supporting Milan Baros in attack and Jamie Carragher was manning at the heart of defense along with Dami Hyypia. Lets have a look at the starting lineup of both the teams for the night.

The Match

Liverpool had a disastrous start to the match by conceding a goal in the 1st minute itself after captain Paolo Maldini scored a volley from a free kick by Andrea Pirlo. Liverpool tried to retaliate but all their efforts were being nullified by the best defence in whole of Europe. Milan scored twice again just before Half Time thanks to the loanee from Chelsea Henan Crespo and both the goals were assisted by Brazilian great Kaka. At the Half Time the score line read as AC Milan 3-0 Liverpool. Liverpool were completely dominated by AC Milan and it looked like it was all over for Liverpool at Half Time. With their heads down and embarassed by the score line the Liverpool team proceeded towards the dressing room. The Milan Team was Euphoric and they had already started to celebrate their victory in their dressing room.

The Second Half

The Liverpool supporters inside the stadium had not yet lost all hope and they started cheering the team at Half Time. With their support the Liverpool Team came out again with a new strength. Within 10 minutes into the second half Liverpool scored their first Goal thanks to an unstoppable header by skipper Steven Gerrard. John Arne Riise dodged his marker in the left wing and provided a perfect cross which Steven Gerrard headed past the Milan Goalkeeper Dida. Soon after that Dida failed to check a Vladimir Smicer shot and it went straight into the back of the net. Now Liverpool were only one goal down. 3 minutes after the Smicer goal Liverpool was awarded a penalty when Steven Gerrard was pushed by Gattuso inside the penalty box. Xabi Alonso scored the rebound to equalize after his initial penalty shot was saved by Dida. Now the Score Line read AC Milan 3-3 Liverpool. It was a 5 minutes of madness described by the Milan Manager after the match which led Liverpool to equalise after being crushed in the first half. After that both Liverpool and AC Milan got chances to score but none could win it for their team in regular 90 minutes. After that the Game went into extra time but as both the team failed to score the game dragged towards penalty shoot out to decide this thrilling contest.

The Penalty Shootout

Liverpool and Milan had each won their last European Cups after winning penalty shoot-outs, and it was also the second time in three years that the final would be decided this way.Milan were first to take a penalty, but Serginho shot over the crossbar after attempts from Jerzy Dudek to distract him, which mimicked Bruce Grobbelaar's "spaghetti legs" antics during the shootout in the 1984 final. Dietmar Hamann took Liverpool's first penalty and, despite having a broken toe,he scored to put Liverpool 1–0 up. Andrea Pirlo was next for Milan, and his penalty was saved by Dudek who dived to his right. Cisse then scored his penalty to put Liverpool 2–0 up. Tomasson scored Milan's next penalty to make the score 2–1 in Liverpool's favour. Riise was next for Liverpool, but his penalty was saved by Dida. Kaka then scored the subsequent penalty to level the scores at 2–2. Vladimír Šmicer took the next Liverpool penalty, and he scored to give them a one-goal advantage. Shevchenko, who had scored the winning penalty in the 2003 final against Inter Milan, then had to score or Liverpool would win. He hit his penalty straight down the middle of the goal. Dudek went down to his right, but blocked the shot with his left hand. Liverpool thus won the penalty shootout by a score of 3–2.

It was a dream come true for all Liverpool fans seeing the Liverpool team lifting the 'Big Ears' as the Trophy is fondly called by the fans around the globe. The party continued till the night. It was one of the Greatest Champions League Final in the history and truly so as the Gods were watching.