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Acknowledgement: The sole “inspiration” behind this article is one Mr El Hadji Diouf from Senegal. The publicity-craving, senseless and baseless comments made by this (regrettably) ex-Liverpool striker about Steven Gerrard boiled the blood of the author to the extent of making him read Gerrard, his favourite player’s autobiography for the umpteenth time, in order to find out what exactly had conspired between the two of them. As I kept reading, I reached two of my favourite chapters. Chapter 16 – “The long and winding road to Istanbul”. Chapter 17 – “The miracle”. Anyway, thank you Diouf.
Miracle: Noun.
Definition - An extraordinary and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore attributed to a divine agency.
Ever since the 25th of May, 2005, articles similar to the one I’m about to write have been written by everybody, everywhere. So captivating is its plot, so enthralling its story, that nobody, atleast no Liverpool fan can stop obsessing about it. Not just the climax that took place in the Turkish capital, but the whole story, right from the moment that no-nonsense Spaniard, Rafa Benitez took over the reins of a struggling team. For the very few who are still ignorant about what happened henceforth, this article hopes to recreate atleast some of the drama that unfolded over the long, winding 2004-05 European season.
The Russian revolution had struck the Premier League. The endless flow of currency from the pockets of Roman Abrahamovich had meant all top class players were under the vicinity of the Stamford Bridge radar. Steven Gerrard was among the primary targets of Chelsea FC over the pre-season. Inspite of all the pressure, Gerrard, the new coach Benitez and the club held strong. Gerrard stayed. But before the Kopites could heave a sigh of relief, Michael Owen was snatched away from Anfield to the Bernabeu. The morale of the team had hit an all-time low. Things looked bleak. Amidst this pall of gloom, was an important fixture. A Champion’s League qualifier against the Austrian team Graz FC in their backyard.
This was Rafael Benitez’s first match at the helm of the team. And he came up with a tactical masterpiece that changed the fortunes of the team as a whole. Steven Gerrard was shifted from his conventional position of central mid-field to a more attacking role, wherein he was sandwiched between the mid-field and the forward line up. Inspirational as it turned out to be, Gerrard scored a brace as Liverpool breezed to a 2-0 win. Gerrard’s first goal was an absolute cracker. Only 90 minutes separated Anfield from where they really belonged. Europe.
Despite a slight setback (they lost the return fixture 1-0), Liverpool were in the Champions League. The Kop was abuzz with emotion and expectation. Drawn along side the team in Group A were Monaco, who had Javier Saviola and Emmanuel Adebayor among others, Rivaldo’s Olympiakos and Diego Tristan’s Deportivo La Coruna. Liverpool’s first match was to be against Monaco. At Anfield. The atmosphere, electric. Liverpool were back in Europe and they meant business, outplaying Monaco 2-0. Anfield had turned into a theatre of dreams with “Make us dream” banners raised by the Kopites.
The promising start was followed by rather ordinary football from the team as losses to Olympiakos and Monaco, and a draw against Deportivo La Coruna, meant that chances of entering the knockout stage were severely handicapped. The only win amongst these lacklustre performances was a none-too-impressive 1-0 win against Deportivo. This put the team in a difficult situation, with a 1-0 win or victory by a 2 goal margin against Olympiakos in the final group match being imperative in order to reach the last 16. One thing helped the team, though. The all important fixture was in Anfield. The prologue is over. It is here that the story really begins.
With everything at stake, Anfield was ready for the battle ahead. Gerrard, on the day before had categorically stated that he didn’t want to wake up to the UEFA Cup, the next day. But things went awry very early as a Rivaldo free kick meant that Liverpool had a 3-goal mountain to climb. Seemed like Mission Impossible. But then, Liverpool were Mission Impossible specialists that season. An inspired substitution by Benitez, bringing in Florent Pongolle reaped immediate rewards as the sub scored within 2 minutes of coming on. Benitez took his Midas touch a step further when another substitute, Neil Mellor also scored within 2 minutes of coming on. Unbelievable. But however hard the team tried, the third goal simply didn’t come. With barely a few seconds left, Steven Gerrard let fly an absolute ripper. The stunning goal sent Andy Gray, an Everton fan wild with excitement. It was his “Yes! You beauty” cry that made the goal absolutely magical. Gerrard had written his own destiny. He would not have to wake up to the UEFA Cup.
Yes! You beauty!
(The writer was a cricket-mad 10 year old kid like many other friends of his, with no real interest in football. Switching the channels on a boring day, he finally decided to watch a football match on TV for the first time, due to lack of choices. The writer too possessed a Midas touch as, of all matches, he chose to watch the aforementioned football match. The drama that unfolded had him transfixed. He had become a Stevie G fan and a Liverpool fan. For life.)
Moving back on to the story now. Liverpool were pitted against the dangerous Bayer Leverkusen in the knockout round. As Gerrard says in his autobiography, everybody outside Anfield held the Germans favourite. And Anfield proved everybody wrong. An inspired Liverpool thrashed their opponents 3-1, both home and away and came out run-away winners. The quarters were up next. Here, fate added its own twist into the story. Liverpool vs Juventus, it was.
The Heysel disaster of 1985. One of the worst that the game has ever seen. The Belgian stadium was hosting a grand European Cup final between Juventus and Liverpool. Juventus won the final, but nobody, not even the Torinos remember the match as 39 Juventus fans were killed in the frenzy that followed. The two teams were facing each other for the first time, nearly 20 years later. The match struck a poignant note with the Kopites holding the mosaic, “In memory and friendship”. Back to the match. One look at the Juve line up and anybody would have been envious. Cannavaro, Del Piero, Thuram, Zambrotta, Perotta, Buffon, Emerson, Nedved – Juve had them all. This was the first David vs Goliath setting for Liverpool in the season. It was definitely not the last.
Platini and Rush – Remembering Heysel
Juventus never realised what had hit them. Before they knew it, Liverpool had raced away to a 2 goal lead within the quarter of an hour. Though the defence held tight from there on, the team conceded a soft, yet invaluable away goal to the Italians during the fag end of the match. With Gerrard out due to injury, a formidable proposition awaited the team with the return leg at the home of the Grand Old Lady of Turin. The resilience of the team came to the fore as they hung on to a goal-less draw. The team had reached the semi-finals of Europe’s premier tournament, much to the surprise of many a pundit. Here, a familiar foe awaited them. Chelsea.
Liverpool had a few scores to settle as Chelsea had beaten them twice in the League and then in the Carling Cup final. But the Blues were everybody’s favourite. The first leg at Stamford Bridge witnessed a cagey, yet sensational goalless draw. Sensational because of Eidur Gudjohnsen’s diving act that ruled out Alonso for the return leg. Gudjohnsen had drawn the ire of the Kopites. He had it coming in the return leg. Anfield, on the day of the return leg, went mad. The good old Kopites say that they had never seen the stadium as charged as it was for the Chelsea match. With the fans riding behind them, the team took a swift lead through a controversial and still debated Luis Garcia goal. The goal came after Petr Cech had openly fouled Milan Baros inside the box. In hindsight, the controversy was needless, because had it not been a goal, it would have been a penalty and Cech would have been sent off. Anyways, the goal woke up a slumbering monster. Liverpool had to struggle against wave after wave of Chelsea attack. But they held firm for 90 mins with the Kop firmly behind them. Stoppage time beckoned. Given that it was a perfectly straight match with very little physicality, 3 mins was all that was required. Instead, it was 6 inexplicable minutes. Somehow, the team held on. Liverpool had come out trumps in another David vs Goliath battle. Liverpool were on their way to Istanbul. Their opponents, AC Milan. The final was between the two most storied teams of European Cup history.
LFC were back where they belonged. And in Istanbul, the players never had to walk alone as the Ataturk Stadium became an Anfield away from Anfield. The crowd that made it to the final showed and still symbolises why the Kopites are called the most passionate fans in the world. But even these fans wouldn’t have expected the team to defeat the Italian giants. Atleast, not in the way they did. The Rossoneri had, just like the Torinos, a star-studded squad – Maldini, Kaka, Pirlo, Seedorf, Nesta, Crespo, Gattuso, Cafu, Rui Costa, Jaap Stam and the Brazilian goalie, Dida. Again, a David vs Goliath battle was in the offing.
50 seconds. That’s all it took for Milan to find the back of the net. It was more or less an omen for things to come. Kaka literally tore Liverpool apart and played a major role in two more goals before half time, both scored by Crespo. 3-0 at half time. Even the most vocal of fans were left stunned. The Italians were in a different realm altogether. Everybody’s emotions were summed up by a single Andy Gray remark: “The game, well and truly over. And, I hate saying that”. But one man still believed. And he was the man who mattered. Rafa Benitez still believed.
Second half. Milan continue to dominate. 54th minute. The ever reliable Stevie G pulled one back for his team. A faint ray of hope for the Kopites. But nobody knew that this was the beginning of the 6 greatest minutes in European football history. 2 mins after Gerrard had scored, Vladimir Smicer who was playing his final game for the club, smashed one to the bottom corner. 3-2. Now, the Kopites were well and truly back. The buzz in Andy Gray’s voice had returned. Another 3 mins later, Liverpool got a penalty after Gattuso fouled Gerrard. Step up, Xabi Alonso. His penalty was saved by Dida. But cool as a cucumber, Alonso tapped in the rebound, sending the fans into raptures. They had witnessed the most astonishing turn-around the game had ever seen. The second half ended without further drama. Extra time it was. Towards the fag end of ET, with about a minute or two left, the most deadly striker of the time, Andriy Shevchenko missed not one, but two sitters back-to-back as Jerzy Dudek pulled off an incredible double save. Lady luck was smiling on Liverpool. Penalties. Jerzy Dudek’s “spaghetti-leg” act confounded the Milan players. Meanwhile Smicer’s last touch for his team was a successful penalty. Yet another sub-plot. Shevchenko missed his do-or-die penalty and barely a second later, the world was listening to “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. Liverpool had achieved the impossible. The “Make Us Dream” banner had been vindicated.
Every time I see, hear or think about these chain of events, I get goosebumps. Maybe, it was pre-ordained. I don’t know. Maybe, it was divine. After all, isn’t that the very definition of the word miracle? The Road to Istanbul is the perfect Hollywood movie. An emotional background story. Lots of stars. Lots of twists. Nail biting, hair rising and cliff hanger moments. Lots of underdog victories. And, one hell of a climax. Perfect. Everything about that campaign was perfect. What the Calcutta test was to cricket, Istanbul was to football. A once-in-a-lifetime miracle. Period. And timeless.
YNWA!
