#3 The Miracle of Istanbul
Manchester United may have executed the greatest Champions League final comeback of the last century against Bayern Munich at Camp Nou, but it remains to be seen if the Old Trafford outfit or any other club for that matter betters Liverpool’s ‘Miracle of Istanbul’ in this one.
Milan entered the final as firm favourites and justified their tag after just one minute as they opened the scoring against the Merseyside club through Paolo Maldini, who capitalised on Andrea Pirlo’s free kick and volleyed the ball past Jerzy Dudek. Rallied by the goal, Milan soon began an onslaught and a Hernan Crespo double in the 39th and 44th minute respectively looked to have all but won the Cup for the San Siro outfit.
However, nobody could have been prepared for what came next. Liverpool emerged from the tunnel after halftime looking like a team with renewed vigour and goals from Steven Gerrard, Vladimir Smicer and Xabi Alonso dramatically turned the tide for the Merseyside outfit.
Milan were unable to break the stalemate despite their onslaught and the match went to extra time and finally penalties where the brilliance of goalkeeper Dudek saw three of the Milan penalty takers miss their penalty kicks. Smicer, who had changed the game after coming on as a sub at halftime tucked in the winning goal, to euphoric cheering from the Liverpool faithful.
A club that had lost all hope in the first 45 minutes now held the most coveted trophy in Europe for the fifth time. Such was the jubilation back home that the Liverpool players were cheered on by one million supporters during the open-top parade on their return.
Champagne flowed like water, with an estimated 10,000 bottles sold on the day after their triumph. Liverpool’s record fifth European Cup resulted in them being allowed to keep the trophy, which is now proudly housed at Anfield. The win was one for the history books and is an undoubtedly proud moment for the club.
