MX23RW : Friday, November 8 03:37:59| >> :120:17397:17397:

On this day: Liverpool pull off 'Miracle of Istanbul' to win Champions League

Rafa Benitez's side trailed 3-0 at half-time in Istanbul.

On this day 15 years ago Liverpool became champions of Europe for the fifth time after recovering from 3-0 down to beat AC Milan on penalties .

Here the PA news agency looks back on arguably the most remarkable Champions League final in the competition's history.

A nightmare start

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez saw his side get off to the worst possible start
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez saw his side get off to the worst possible start (Martin Rickett/PA)

Rafa Benitez made a bold team selection by including Harry Kewell in favour of the more defensively-minded Dietmar Hamann, but saw his side fall behind after 52 seconds.

Andrea Pirlo's free-kick was met with a volley by Paolo Maldini.

Liverpool were stunned and struggled to recover their poise, with Kewell limping off injured amid jeers to be replaced by Vladimir Smicer.

Kaka sent Andriy Shevchenko hurtling down the right channel and his cutback teed up Hernan Crespo to tap home from close range for Milan's second.

Playmaker Kaka then played a pass of exquisite perfection to leave Jamie Carragher stretching in vain as Crespo burst through to score and seemingly put the game to bed before half-time.

Remarkable turnaround

With little to lose, Benitez made a brave tactical switch at half-time by replacing full-back Steve Finnan with Hamann and changing to a 3-5-2 formation.

The move paid dividends almost instantly as the Reds found themselves level by the 60th minute.

Gerrard headed his side's first goal after 54 minutes, with Smicer swiftly adding a second and Xabi Alonso firing home the rebound after seeing his penalty saved by Dida after Gerrard was brought down in the box.

Dudek invokes spirit of Grobbelaar

Dudek produced two amazing late saves in extra-time before denying both Pirlo and Shevchenko in the penalty shoot-out.

In 1984, Liverpool had last won the European Cup on penalties, with Bruce Grobbelaar famously wobbling his knees.

Dudek produced a similar manoeuvre as Liverpool completed a sensational comeback.

What happened next?

The two sides met again in the 2007 final, with Milan gaining revenge with a 2-1 victory.

Benitez left Liverpool in 2010, with the Merseyside outfit eventually winning a sixth continental crown under Jurgen Klopp in 2019.

ID:400348: cacheID:400348:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:7469:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Brescia midfielder Sandro Tonali pictured in October 2019
Read Next:
Pirlo claims Sandro Tonali is better than Ronaldo
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
1.15am
Bengals
@
Ravens
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!