«Ювентус» и «Монако» вышли в полуфинал Лиги чемпионов

Second half[edit]

When you get homesick, nothing will stop you returning to the arms of those you love...

The European Cup didn’t fancy Paolo. She wanted Steven, but it took a series of remarkable chat-up lines from the Liverpool manager to ensure his skipper got his wicked way.

The only reason Liverpool weren’t fatally wounded by a first half blitz is the fortunate fact immortals can’t be destroyed.

Gerrard and company have rewritten football "possibilities" throughout this campaign, but even the heroic efforts of Olympiakos, Juventus and Chelsea were rendered insignificant compared to this.

It shouldn’t have happened. Some of us aren’t convinced it did. Only the pinch marks confirm it. We thought it was all over. It wasn’t.

“”

The Liverpool Echo match report[20]

Steven Gerrard scored a goal and won a penalty as Liverpool came from behind to win the final

At the start of the second half, Liverpool made a substitution with Dietmar Hamann replacing Steve Finnan and also changed to a 3–5–2 formation to reduce the deficit, with Riise and Šmicer on the flanks, Alonso and Hamann as holding midfielders and Gerrard playing as an attacking midfielder. Liverpool had the best chance early on with Xabi Alonso sending an effort from 35 yards (32 m) narrowly past Milan’s right hand post. Two minutes later, Shevchenko forced a save from Dudek with a strong free kick from just outside the Liverpool box.

A minute after this, Liverpool scored through captain Gerrard, who connected with Riise’s cross and lofted a header past Dida. Soon afterwards, Liverpool scored again as Šmicer beat Dida with a long-range shot into the bottom left-hand corner to leave Liverpool a goal behind. Three minutes after Šmicer’s goal, Liverpool were awarded a penalty, after Gerrard made a run into the Milan box for Baros’ lay-off and was brought down by Gennaro Gattuso. Xabi Alonso’s penalty was saved, but he scored from the rebound to equalise for Liverpool. Milan and Liverpool had chances to take the lead after this, but Clarence Seedorf and Riise failed to score.

Milan almost took the lead in the 70th minute, after Dudek dropped a low cross towards Shevchenko, whose effort was cleared off the line by Traore. Gerrard then had a chance to score but he sent his shot over the crossbar. About ten minutes later García could not control a pass from Gerrard which led to a Milan attack, Crespo played the ball back to Kaka, whose subsequent shot was blocked by Jamie Carragher. A number of substitutions were made before the end of full-time with Liverpool replacing Milan Baroš with Djibril Cissé, while Milan replaced Hernán Crespo and Clarence Seedorf with Jon Dahl Tomasson and Serginho respectively. Milan had the last chance before full-time but Kaka failed to direct Jaap Stam’s header towards goal, meaning the final would go to extra time for the 13th time in the competition’s history.[21]

Extra time[edit]

Liverpool kicked off the first half of extra time. Pirlo had a chance in the early stages, but he put his shot over the crossbar. Tomasson came close in the later stages of the first period of extra time, but he could not make contact with the ball. Vladimír Šmicer required treatment for cramp towards the end of the first period, as a number of Liverpool players felt fatigued. Liverpool had the most of the early exchanges after winning two corners, but could not score. Shortly afterwards, Milan make their final substitution replacing Gennaro Gattuso with Rui Costa. The best chance of the second half came near the end when Shevchenko shot at goal. Dudek saved only for it to rebound back out to Shevchenko, who again shot from under 6 yards (5.5 m), which Dudek again saved by pushing the shot over the bar. Liverpool had one last chance at the end of extra time, but John Arne Riise’s free kick shot was blocked and following this the referee signalled the end of extra time, which meant a penalty shoot-out would decide the championship.[21]

Penalties[edit]

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 - previously, in the 2003 all-Italian final at Old Trafford, Milan had defeated Juventus 3–2.[19] Milan were first to take a penalty, but Serginho - who had taken Milan’s first penalty in 2003 and scored - 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 against Roma. Dietmar Hamann took Liverpool’s first penalty and, despite having a broken toe,[22] he scored to put Liverpool 1–0 up. Andrea Pirlo was next for Milan, and his penalty was saved by Dudek who dove 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. Kaká 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-

Build-up[edit]

The Atatürk Olympic Stadium held the final

The 2005 final was the sixth time Liverpool had reached the final and it was their first appearance since the 1985 European Cup Final, when they lost 1–0 to Juventus and were subsequently banned from European competition for an indefinite period due to the Heysel Stadium disaster. They had previously won the European Cup on four occasions in 1977, 1978, 1981 and 1984. The match was Milan’s tenth appearance in the final. They had won on six occasions (1963, 1969, 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003), and lost three times (1958, 1993, 1995). In total the teams had participated in 14 finals between them.[9] Prior to the game, Milan were assured of entering the Champions League next season after finishing second in Serie A.[10] Liverpool meanwhile had failed to finish in the top four in the Premier League, and had to win the final to enter the competition the following season. Even if they did win the match, they were not assured of a place after UEFA failed to confirm whether they would allow Liverpool to defend the championship.[11] The Football Association supported Liverpool, stating, "We have already submitted a written request to have an additional place, should they win the Champions League".[12] Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti had his own view on the situation: "I think a team that wins should have the right to defend it but we may just do the English federation a favour and solve this."[13]

Each team was allocated 20,000 tickets for the final, out of a total of 69,500. UEFA auctioned 7,500 tickets for the final through its website, while another 14,500 were distributed to its "football family". The Turkish Football Federation also had 7,500 tickets available for fans from their country, but there were concerns these tickets would be sold on the black market. Hotel rooms in the city were scarce, with the 100,000 available quickly booked by travel agents and fans.[14] 30,000 Liverpool fans made the trip to Istanbul, but only 20,000 were expected to have tickets. The BBC reported early arrivals were lively but there was no violence and the mood between the two fans was friendly.[15]

Milan were regarded as favourites and their team included many players who had experienced success in the competition. The most notable was captain Paolo Maldini, who had won the competition four times previously, all with Milan, and Clarence Seedorf who had won the competition three times with three different clubs. Liverpool had been considered underdogs throughout the competition, but had beaten more favoured opposition, including Juventus and Chelsea, to reach the final. Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez acknowledged this: "Maybe Milan are favourites, but we have confidence, and we can win".[16] Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger felt Liverpool would win the match: "I fancy Liverpool as Milan look jaded physically and certainly mentally, by losing the [Serie A] title, I think they have never had a better chance than now to beat Milan." Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher was not so optimistic, stating that the Liverpool side were not as good as the one that had won the 2001 UEFA Cup Final: "No disrespect to the squad we have got now but it is obvious we are not as strong as we were when we won the UEFA Cup in 2001. Back then we had a settled team and that season when we went into games against Barcelona and Roma, we always felt we were as good as them."[17]

Milan were expected to field a 4–4–2 formation, and there was much speculation about who would partner Andriy Shevchenko in attack. Filippo Inzaghi and Jon Dahl Tomasson were touted, but it was expected that on-loan striker Hernán Crespo would be chosen. This was echoed by Milan manager Ancelotti: "I will not say if he will play from the start, but he will definitely play."[16] Liverpool were also expected to adopt a 4–4–2 formation. Dietmar Hamann was expected to start ahead of Igor Bišćan, and when questioned over whether Djibril Cissé or Milan Baroš would start as main striker, Benítez replied, "Both are good enough, maybe both can play, why not?"[16]

Match[edit]

First half[edit]

Milan captain Paolo Maldini scored in the first minute of the match

Liverpool fielded a 4–4–1–1 formation, with the surprise inclusion in the squad being Harry Kewell, who played just behind Milan Baroš, who himself had been picked ahead of Djibril Cissé. The inclusion of Kewell meant Dietmar Hamann was left on the substitutes’ bench and Xabi Alonso and Steven Gerrard started in the centre of midfield. Milan fielded a 4–4–2 diamond formation, with Hernán Crespo preferred to Jon Dahl Tomasson and Filippo Inzaghi, who was not included in the match day squad. Liverpool lined up in their red home kit, whilst Milan wore a changed strip of all white. Liverpool won the toss and kicked off.[18][19]

Milan scored within the first minute of the match after captain Paolo Maldini volleyed in an Andrea Pirlo free kick that had been conceded by Djimi Traoré. The goal made Maldini the oldest scorer in the history of the competition.[19] Liverpool responded almost immediately; John A