Istanbul on 25 May 2005 was as magical as great moments in football can be and a provided a fairytale ending to Liverpool's illustrious run in the Champions League that year. The match had everything necessary to script one of the most exciting and nail-biting finishes to a major tournament. From an early lead to an astonishing comeback, to a complete turnaround of expectations in the results following a tense penalty shootout.
Liverpool emerged the ultimate winners and it was arguably the pinnacle of Liverpool's glory in recent history. Eleven years have passed since and the players that brought incomparable glory to the English Premier League giants, have moved on to different callings and clubs. We look at what the team of 2005 have been up to since that fateful night
1) Jerzy Dudek
The hero of the night was the Polish “keeper of the Reds” Jerzy Dudek who redeemed himself in the most exciting way. He ended up saving two penalties and Liverpool won the League 3-2 on penalties.
After this, Dudek moved to Real Madrid for the 2007-08 season where he was sidelined by Iker Casillas. He played his last international game for Poland on 4 June 2013, having played exactly 10 league games since Istanbul, where he was substituted at halftime.
Dudek was named as the ambassador for UEFA Euro League 2015 in Warsaw. Since retiring, he has expressed a wish to start a football academy along with his brother Dariusz Dudek in Krakow.
2) Steve Finnan
An injury prone player, his run during the final was cut short after he was substituted after half-time.
Finnan left Liverpool to join Espanyol in 2008 and after just one season there with not too many caps for the Spanish side due to constant injuries, Finnan moved back to the English Premier League signing for Portsmouth in 2009 where he played regularly. The Irish star retired from the game in 2010 after his time with Portsmouth.
One incident that many would not know about is that right after the night of the victory, in June 2005, Finnan was arrested for driving over 81-year-old Liverpool man who later died although Finnan was not charged. He is currently involved with a London-based construction firm, Finnan Developments.
3) Djimi Traore
Most infamously known for a shocking own goal in an FA Cup match against then Championship side Burnley in 2004-05, Traore had an inconsistent ride in the final; getting his act together quite well only towards the end of the match. Traore's association with Liverpool continued until 2006 following which he was sold to League 1 side, Charlton Athletic.
The French defender also played for a host of other sides such as Monaco, Marseille and Birmingham City. He ended his career at the Major League Soccer side, Seattle Sounders.
4) Jamie Carragher
One of Liverpool's absolute legends seemed to have an off night the day Liverpool won the Champions League for the fifth time. After 2005, Carragher stayed at Liverpool for eight more years to register 737 caps for the team. During this time, he also increased the tally of his trophies as he went on to the FA Cup with Liverpool in 2006 and a third League Cup triumph in 2012.
In 2008, Carragher was involved in a controversy that was eventually hushed up when he was involved in a severe verbal altercation with a friend.
In 2012, Carragher received the Honorary Fellowship from Liverpool's John Moore University. He has since been associated with Sky Sports as a highly respected and influential pundit alongside Harry Redknapp and Gary Neville. Neville and Carragher have a quirky relationship on camera which reflected their famous on-field rivalry and makes for interesting analysis reports.
5) Sami Hyypia
Sami Hyypia’s performance on the night at Istanbul started out slow but got better as the game played on.
Hyypia played for Liverpool for four more years after the UCL victory; his final game coming against Tottenham Hotspur. Following this, he moved to Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen.
He retired in May 2011 and became the head coach of Leverkusen in 2013 but was sacked by the club after one season following which he became manager of Brighton Hove and Albion for six months
On 21 August 2015, Hyypia was officially announced as the manager of the Swiss Super League club FC Zurich. He was sacked in May 2016 after a vote of no confidence against him by his team.
6) John Arne Riise
Riise recently announced his retirement from international football this week at the age of 35 and added that he would continue representing LFC in the best way possible, a statement that goes on to show that his former club still held a special place for him.
Riise spent seven years at Anfield before taking a transfer to Serie A side AS Roma in 2008. In 2011, he moved back to the English Premier League after striking a deal with Fulham. He was released at the end of his contract after the 2013-14 season before moving to APOEL in Cyprus on a one-year contract.
In 2015, Riise was one of the big names in the second edition of the Hero Indian Super League after signing for the Delhi Dynamos and becoming the second member of the 2005 team to play in the tournament. In 2016, he made a return to his boyhood club Aelesund FK where he played before officially retiring on June 14 2016.
7) Steven Gerrard
If ever there has been a player synonymous with Liverpool FC, it is Steven Gerrard. Being one of the most exceptional home grown boys, Gerrard stayed for almost his entire playing career at LFC before finally leaving after the 2014-15 season to play for the LA Galaxy in the Major League Soccer in the USA.
Up until the end of his stint at LFC, Gerrard occupied a principle role and was a dynamic leader who played passionately for the club, always scoring when his team needed him to. One of the best examples of this ability came on this particular night in Istanbul itself when he scored Liverpool's first goal in the second half after trailing 3-0 behind AC Milan.
Gerrard remains one of the best and most legendary captains of the club without a single Premier League title to show for his brilliance. He suffered several disastrous downs towards the end of his association with Liverpool.
His last game for the club saw LFC suffer a humiliating 6-1 defeat against Stoke City with the only goal by the Reds coming from Gerrard himself. In the 2013-14 season, the year Liverpool came very close to winning the title for the first time in 24 years, all of Gerrard's hopes of finally winning a League title as captain were shattered following a slip against Chelsea which cost Liverpool both the game and the title. Gerrard has since admitted that he remains “haunted” by that mistake.
He remains to date the only footballer to have scored in an FA Cup Final, A UEFA Cup final and a UEFA Champion's League Final.
8) Luis Garcia
Luis Garcia turned out to be a really good signing as he played a big role in Liverpool's road to the finals of the Champion's League the year they won it and played his last match for Liverpool in January 2007.
After a ruptured ligament in his last game, he returned to his former club Atletico Madrid in July 2007 where he stayed for two seasons. Following this, he had spells at Racing de Santander, Panathinaikos FC, Puebla FC and Club Universidad Nacional.
He announced his retirement in January 2014 but came out of retirement in July to play in the inaugural season of the Indian Super League as a Marquee signing for Atletico de Kolkata. In 2016 he signed for Central Coast Mariners FC and currently serves as a pundit for beIn Sports during their coverage of Euro 2016.
9) Xabi Alonso
One of the heroes and goal scorers of the final in 2005, he has probably been the most successful following his career at Anfield. After 2005, Alonso was a pivotal part of the Liverpool squad that won the FA Cup in 2006.
Alonso left Anfield in 2009 to play for Real Madrid. The Reds suffered a major setback in form at the beginning of that season following his departure. He played a pivotal role in Madrid's journey to winning their 10th Champions League Trophy in 2013-14. He started every game for the la Liga side that season.
In 2014, Alonso completed a deal to move to German side Bayern Munich. For his country, Xabi Alonso proved indispensable to his side winning Euro 2008 and 2012. He retired from international football in August 2014.
10) Harry Kewell
After his arrival at Anfield, all was not well with accusations of a large portion of the amount in his contract going to his unregistered agent. These accusations came from Gary Lineker against whom Kewell later filed a defamation charge. The settlement had to be reached out of court as the jury was unable to reach a satisfactory verdict.
The Champion's League final was not a good one for Kewell although it made him the only Australian to win a Champions League title.
He left Liverpool in 2008 to play in Galatasaray before signing a 3-year contract with A-League club Melbourne Victory. In 2013 he took up a deal with Al Gharafa in the Qatar Stars League and in June that year he returned to Australia to play for the Melbourne Heart.
He retired in 2014. After retiring he worked with junior players in Australian academies before being appointed as head coach for the U21 team of Watford FC.
11) Milan Baros
Following a terrible performance in the UCL final of 2005, Milan Baros immediately left for Aston Villa in August 2005. In 2007 he signed for Ligue 1 side Lyon which brought him back under the guidance of his former manager at Liverpool, Gerrard Houllier.
In 2007, Baros was caught up in a controversy where he was accused of racism on the field during Lyon's match against Rennes. During the game, he held up his hand and made a gesture as if to waft away an unpleasant smell from Rennes player Stephane Mbia. He denied the charges that followed.
Baros was sent out on loan to Portsmouth following which he spent brief periods of time at Galatasaray and Banik Ostrava, the club he started his career with.
He followed it with a stint at Turkish side Antalyaspor before returning to Ostrava for a season. He left in 2015 and currently plays for Mlada Boleslav.
12) Dietmar Hamman
Dietmar “Didi” Hamman came on in the second half as a substitute for Steve Finnan which proved to be an abetment to Liverpool's fantastic turnaround. Immediately after the season, Hamman signed a pre-contract in June 2006 with Bolton Wanderers with whom he stayed for exactly a day before signing for Manchester City.
In 2010 he signed a one-year contract as a player-coach at MK Dons before joining Leicester City as a First Team Coach in February 2011.
In July 2011, Hamman was appointed manager of Conference Premier Club Stockport County. The German was enlisted by Irish Sports network RTE Sprts as an analyst and pundit before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Euro 2012 and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
He has also, subsequently, appeared on BBC's Match Of The Day and football coverage by Sky Sports especially to provide match analyses when Liverpool has a game scheduled. He is currently a football broadcaster and columnist.
He released his autobiography in 2012 and his first book titled “The Didi Man:My Love Affair With Liverpool” was a Sunday Times bestseller.
13) Vladimir Smicer
Probably one of the most injury prone players to have played for Liverpool, Vladimir Smicer's role in the final started after 22 minutes into the first half when an injury to Harry Kewell forced him off the field. Smicer marked his final appearance for Liverpool that night with a goal.
He moved to Bordeaux in 2005 where he suffered more injuries including one that would have him out of the game for nearly a year resulting in him missing the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
In 2007, he returned to SK Salvia Prague where he won a league title. Just a day after he retired he was made sports manager of the Czech national football team alongside manager Michal Bilek.
14) Djibril Cisse
He scored a crucial penalty against AC Milan in the Champions League Final and the French striker also scored two goals in the 2005 UEFA Super Cup and also Liverpool's opening goal in the 2006 FA Cup Final.
Cisse’s career never really took off after the Champions League final. In July 2006, a loan deal between Liverpool and Marseille was agreed upon after an injury forced him out of play earlier in June. The striker then moved to Sunderland after his stint with Marseille ended.
In 2009 he joined Panathinaikos on a four-year contract from where he was transferred to Serie A club Lazio in July 2011. He returned to England in 2012 signing for Queens Park Rangers. He followed this with various stints at Kuban Kransodar, Bastia and JS Saint-Pierroise before finally retiring in October 2015 at the age of 34.
