Remembering the Miracle of Istanbul: 20 Seasons On from One of Liverpool FC’s Most Incredible Nights

Liverpool will return to the Champions League for the revamped 2024/25 edition of the continental showpiece.

It’s somewhat fitting that the Reds will be in the draw for the competition during this particular season, as it comes 20 years on from one the club’s most famous – or infamous – nights.

The culmination of the 2004/05 campaign saw Liverpool reach the final of the Champions League against AC Milan; setting into motion the most extraordinary contests you’re likely to see at any level of the beautiful game.

The Background

Ironically, the 2004/05 season was not a particularly good one for the club domestically.

Rafa Benitez came in as manager, replacing Gerard Houllier, but he struggled to get a tune out of his new players – 14 defeats in the Premier League, with just 52 goals scored, evidence of the Reds’ initial struggles under the Spaniard.

He had spent more than £40 million on new players – no small change back then, although the likes of Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia would go on to immortalise themselves in Liverpool FC folklore.

It’s just that they didn’t on English soil in 2004/05, with that lowly fifth-place finish in the Premier League matched by a third round exit from the FA Cup at the hands of Burnley.

There was more success in the League Cup, but even that would ultimately lead to disappointment: after reaching the final, played at Cardiff City’s Millennium Stadium, the Reds succumbed to the Blues of Chelsea 2-3 after extra time.

So the backdrop was less than ideal for a Champions League push, and in truth Liverpool struggled to get out of Group A – defeat in Greece to Olympiakos, and a limp 0-0 draw with Deportivo, left the Reds’ position perilous, but a 3-1 win over the Greek side at Anfield on the final matchday saw the Reds through to the last 16 via goal difference.

A comfortable 6-2 aggregate win over Bayer Leverkusen – with Garcia scoring three of Liverpool’s goals – saw the Reds paired with Juventus in the quarter-finals. A 2-1 win at Anfield was followed by a shutout 0-0 draw in Turin, seeing Benitez’s men into the hat for the semi-finals.

They were paired with Chelsea, a side with whom they’ve had many titanic collisions in both domestic and continental action before. But this was more like chess on grass: one goal was scored in 180 minutes of football over the two legs….Garcia’s fourth-minute strike in the second leg at Anfield.

And then there two: Liverpool and AC Milan, the last pair standing, would meet at Istanbul’s Ataturk Olympic Stadium on May 25, 2005.

The Miracle

Some 69,000 fans crammed into the venue, with most in attendance and watching on from home expecting a cagey opening as is common in games of this magnitude.

And the Paolo Maldini scored after a minute.

The Italian side were given a free kick, with Andrea Pirlo’s finding its way to Maldini, who expertly volleyed the Italians in front.

But things would go from bad to worse at the end of the first half, with Kaka and Andriy Shevchenko combining to set-up Hernan Crespo for a 39th minute goal, before the Argentine found himself free from a Kaka pass before chipping home to make it 3-0 to Milan.

Even the most optimistic of Liverpool fans would have been left feeling down and out as they sipped their half-time beverages. But they were given some hope when Steven Gerrard nodded home in the 54th minute; if you’re going to launch a second half rally, make sure you score early.

The mood inside the Olympic Stadium seemed to change perceptibly, with Liverpool fans growing in encouragement and Milan’s supporters increasingly more hushed.

When Vladimir Smicer pinged a long-range shot into the corner of Dida’s net just two minutes later, it was very much game on: the Reds still had 30 minutes plus stoppage time to find an equaliser.

And they wouldn’t have to wait too long for it: Gerrard was brought down in the penalty area, and while Alonso’s penalty was saved, the rebound fell fortuitously to him to slot home.

Both teams had chances to win the game in normal time, but they couldn’t be separated: the dreaded extra time and penalties loomed.

⏪ 2005: Memories of one the most famous Champions League finals as Liverpool and AC Milan prepare to kick off Group B…@LFC | #UCL pic.twitter.com/ECxkPUG6QT

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) September 15, 2021

The extra period was more conservative, although an incredible double-save from Jerzy Dudek late on kept Liverpool in the hunt.

The Polish ace would be the Reds’ hero in the penalty shootout too, his ‘wobbly legs’ – made famous by another Liverpool goalkeeper in Bruce Grobbelaar – enough to put off Serginho, before saves from Pirlo and Shevchenko were enough to secure a 3-2 win on penalties.

Liverpool fans of all ages have enjoyed some famous nights thanks to this football club, but few of them will ever come close to the range of emotions that Reds supporters felt before, during and after the Miracle of Istanbul.