2005 UEFA Champions League final
The 2005 UEFA Champions League final was the final match of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, Europe's primary club football competition. The showpiece event was contested between Milan of Italy and Liverpool of England at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey on 25 May 2005. Liverpool, who had won the competition four times, were appearing in their sixth final, and their first since 1985. Milan, who had won the competition six times, were appearing in their second final in three years and tenth overall.
Each club needed to progress through the group stage and knockout rounds to reach the final, playing 12 matches in total. Liverpool finished second in their group behind 2004 runners-up Monaco and subsequently beat Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus and Chelsea to progress to the final. Milan won their group ahead of Barcelona and faced Manchester United, Inter Milan and PSV Eindhoven before reaching the final.
Milan were regarded as favourites before the match and took the lead within the first minute through captain Paolo Maldini. Milan striker Hernán Crespo added two more goals before half-time to make it 3–0. In the second half Liverpool launched a comeback and scored three goals in a dramatic six-minute spell to level the scores at 3–3, with goals from Steven Gerrard, Vladimír Šmicer and Xabi Alonso. The scores remained the same during extra time, and a penalty shoot-out was required to decide the champions. The score was 3–2 to Liverpool when Andriy Shevchenko's penalty was saved by Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek. It was Liverpool's fifth European Cup, which meant they were awarded the trophy permanently and the right to wear a multiple-winner badge. Liverpool's comeback gave rise to the final being known as the Miracle of Istanbul, and is regarded as one of the greatest finals in the history of the tournament.
Background
This was Liverpool's sixth 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 six years 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, and lost three times. In total the teams had participated in 14 finals between them. Prior to the game, Milan were assured of entering the Champions League the following season after finishing second in Serie A. 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. The Football Association supported Liverpool, stating, "We have already submitted a written request to have an additional place, should they win the Champions League". Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti said "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."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 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". Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger felt Liverpool would win the match: "I fancy Liverpool as Milan look jaded physically and certainly mentally, by losing the 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."
Venue
The final was held at Atatürk Olympic Stadium, it was the first time a European final had been held in Turkey. There were reservations about holding the final in Turkey but UEFA chief executive, Lars-Christer Olsson was satisfied by the assurances of the Turkish authorities: "The conditions there are the same, generally, as for all countries and they have given guarantees, this is important, especially since their experiences last autumn. We have also asked for additional investments in the infrastructure around the stadium and they have agreed to this, too."Route to the final
Teams qualified for the Champions League group stage, either directly or through three preliminary rounds, based on both their position in the preceding domestic league and the strength of that league. The competition proper started with the group stage, contested as eight double round-robin groups of four teams, with the top two qualifying for the knockout stages. The knockout stage ties from the round of 16 to the semi-finals were decided based on home and away matches.Milan entered the competition in the group stage after winning Serie A. They won their group ahead of Barcelona and faced Manchester United, Inter Milan and PSV Eindhoven before reaching the final.
Liverpool entered the competition in the third qualifying round after finishing fourth in the 2003–04 FA Premier League. They faced Austrian side GAK and won the first leg 2–0 at Graz after two goals from captain Steven Gerrard. They lost the second leg 1–0 at Anfield but progressed to the group stage by virtue of winning the tie 2–1 on aggregate. Liverpool finished second in their group behind 2004 Champions League runners-up Monaco. In Liverpool's final group stage match against Olympiacos on 8 December, Steven Gerrard scored a 25-yard half volley in the 86th minute to send the club through to the knockout round. A strike that saw co-commentator Andy Gray exclaim, "Oh, you beauty! What a hit son! What a hit!", Gerrard stated it was his most important, if not his best, goal for Liverpool to date. In the knockout rounds, Liverpool beat Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus and Chelsea to progress to the final. The winning goal in the semi-final scored by Luis García was dubbed a ghost goal by Chelsea manager José Mourinho. He did however recognise the atmosphere generated by Liverpool fans in the match: "I felt the power of Anfield, it was magnificent."
Pre-match
Ticketing
Each team was allocated 20,000 tickets for the final, out of a total of 69,000. 14,400 tickets were made available to the general public, with half of those allocated through a ballot on UEFA's website, and the other half reserved for Turkish fans by the Turkish Football Federation. The final 14,600 tickets were distributed to UEFA's "football family", consisting of UEFA officials, national football associations, commercial partners and broadcasters. Hotel rooms in the city were scarce, with the 100,000 available quickly booked by travel agents and fans. At least 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.Team selection
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." 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?"Officials
The referee for the final was Manuel Mejuto González, who led an all-Spanish crew of officials. His assistant referees were Oscar Martínez Samaniego and Clemente Ayete Plou, and the fourth official was Arturo Daudén Ibáñez. Mejuto González was only the third Spanish referee to officiate a European Cup final, following Manuel Díaz Vega in 1996 and José María Ortiz de Mendíbil in 1969.Match
Summary
First half
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, which they historically used in European Cup finals. Liverpool won the coin toss and kicked off.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. Liverpool responded almost immediately; John Arne Riise, who was picked out by a corner kick from Steven Gerrard, hit a volley from the edge of the penalty box. His shot was cleared only for Gerrard to cross in from the right wing, which Sami Hyypiä headed towards goal producing a save out of Dida. Milan almost extended their lead in the 13th minute, after Crespo's header was cleared off the goal line by Luis García. A few minutes later, Liverpool made a substitution after Harry Kewell picked up a groin injury; he was replaced by Vladimír Šmicer. Soon after, Kaká passed through to Andriy Shevchenko who put his shot past Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, but Shevchenko was adjudged to have been in an offside position and the goal did not stand. Shevchenko had another chance to score a few minutes later; after being played onside by Traore, his shot was saved by Dudek after he came under pressure from the Liverpool defence. Luis García had two chances to score following Shevchenko's shot; the first shot from the edge of the penalty area went well over the crossbar and after he was headed through by Baroš his next shot went wide. Straight after this attack, Crespo went through on goal only to be flagged for offside. Almost immediately after this, Liverpool had a penalty claim turned down after Alessandro Nesta allegedly handballed. Milan countered and scored; Kaka dribbled the ball into the Liverpool half and passed to Shevchenko, who passed to Crespo at the far post to score and make it 2–0. Minutes later, Crespo extended Milan's lead with a chip over Dudek after Kaka provided the assist to make it 3–0.