2005 UEFA Champions League Final , 2005 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL

The 2005 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, Europe's primary club football competition. The show-piece event was contested between Liverpool of England and Milan of Italy at the Atatürk Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey on Wednesday 25 May 2005. Four-times winners Liverpool were appearing in their sixth final, and their first since the Heysel Stadium Disaster in 1985, whilst six-times winners Milan were appearing in their second final in three years and tenth overall.

Each club needed to progress through the group stage and knockout rounds to reach the final, playing 12 matches in total. Liverpool finished second in their group behind last year's runners up Monaco and subsequently beat Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus and Chelsea to progress to the final. Milan won their group ahead of Barcelona and faced Manchester United, Internazionale and PSV Eindhoven before reaching the final.

Milan were regarded as favourites before the match and took the lead within the first minute through captain Paolo Maldini. Hernán Crespo added two more goals before half-time to make it 3–0. During the second half Liverpool scored three goals in six minutes to level the scores at 3–3, the goals coming courtesy of Steven Gerrard, Vladimír Šmicer and Xabi Alonso. The scores stayed the same during extra time, and a penalty shootout was required to decide the champions. The score was 3–2 to Liverpool when Andriy Shevchenko saw his penalty saved by Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, meaning Liverpool won their fifth European Cup, 20 years after being banned from Europe following Heysel.

[edit] Route to the final

Teams qualified for the Champions League group stage, either directly or through three preliminary rounds, based on both their position in the preceding domestic league and the strength of that league.^[1]^[2] Liverpool entered the competition in the Third qualifying round after finishing fourth in the FA Premier League 2003-04. They faced Grazer AK of Austria, winning the first leg 2–0 away from home courtesy of two goals from captain Steven Gerrard. They lost the second leg 1–0 at Anfield but progressed to the group stage by virtue of winning the tie 2–1 on aggregate. Milan entered the competition in the group stage after winning Serie A. The group stages were contested as eight double round robin groups of four teams, the top two qualifying for the knockout stages.^[3] Knockout ties were decided based on home and away matches, with the away goals rule, extra time and penalty shootouts as tiebreakers if needed.^[4]

[edit] Build-up

The 2005 final was the sixth time Liverpool had reached the showpiece match, it was their first appearance since 1985, when they lost 1–0 to Juventus and were subsequently banned from European competition for an indefinite period due to the Heysel Stadium Disaster. They had previously won the European Cup on four occasions in 1977, 1978, 1981 and 1984. For Milan this was their tenth appearance in their final, they had won on six occasions (1963, 1969, 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003), and lost three times (1958, 1993, 1995). In total the teams had participated in 14 finals between them.^[11] Going into the match Milan were assured of entering the Champions League next season after finishing second in Serie A, albeit with a match left.^[12] Liverpool meanwhile had failed to finish in the top four in the Premier League, and had to win this match to have any chance of entering the competition next season at all. Even if they did win the match they were not assured of a place with UEFA neither confirming or denying if would allow Liverpool to enter the competition next season.^[13] The Football Association supported Liverpool stating: "We have already submitted a written request to have an additional place, should they win the Champions League".^[14] Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti had his own view on the situation: "I think a team that wins should have the right to defend it but we may just do the English federation a favour and solve this".^[15]

69,500 tickets were available for the final with each getting 20,000 tickets each. UEFA auctioned 7,500 tickets for the final through its website, whilst another 14,500 were distributed to its "football family". The Turkish Football Federation also had 7,500 tickets available for fans from their country, though there were doubts about whether these tickets would end up being sold on the black market. Hotel rooms in the city were scarce with the 100,000 available quickly snapped up by travel agents and fans.^[16] 30,000 Liverpool fans made the trip to Istanbul to see Liverpool compete in their first final in 20 years. Of those 30,000, only 20,000 were expected to have tickets, with the rest of the fans watching the match in the many bars in the city. The early arrivals were lively but generally there was no violence and the mood between the two fans was friendly.^[17]

Milan were regarded as favourites and had many players who had experienced success in the competition, most notably captain Paolo Maldini, who had won the competition four times previously all with Milan, and Clarence Seedorf who has won the competition three times with three different clubs. Liverpool had been considered underdogs throughout the competition and had beat more favoured opposition including Juventus and Chelsea to reach the final. Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez acknowledged this: "Maybe Milan are favourites, but we have confidence, and we can win".^[18] Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger felt Liverpool would win the match: "I fancy Liverpool as Milan look jaded physically and certainly mentally, by losing the title, I think they have never had a better chance than now to beat Milan". Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher however was not so optimistic stating that this Liverpool side were not as good as the one that won the UEFA Cup in 2001: "No disrespect to the squad we have got now but it is obvious we are not as strong as we were when we won the UEFA Cup in 2001. Back then we had a settled team and that season when we went into games against Barcelona and Roma, we always felt we were as good as them".^[19]

Milan were expected to field a 4-4-2 with much discussion about who would partner Andriy Shevchenko up front. Filippo Inzaghi and Jon Dahl Tomasson were touted but it was expected that on loan striker Hernán Crespo would be chosen, this was echoed by Milan manager Ancelotti: "I will not say if he will play from the start, but he will definitely play". Liverpool were expected to line up in similar 4-4-2 formation. Dietmar Hamann was expected to start ahead of Igor Bišćan, whilst there was doubt over who start as the main with Djibril Cisse and Milan Baroš, Benítez gave no clues as to who would play when questioned on the matter: "Both are good enough, maybe both can play, why not?".^[18]

[edit] Match

[edit] Summary

Liverpool fielded a 4-4-1-1 formation, with the surprise inclusion in the squad being Harry Kewell who played off the shoulder of Milan Baroš, who himself had been picked ahead of Djibril Cisse. The inclusion of Kewell meant Dietmar Hamann had to settle for a place on the substitute's bench, with Xabi Alonso and Steven Gerrard lining up in the centre of midfield. Milan fielded a 4-4-2 formation, with Hernán Crespo being preferred to Filippo Inzaghi, who was not in the match day squad and Jon Dahl Tomasson up front. Liverpool lined up in their red home kit, whilst Milan were in their change strip of all white. Liverpool won the the toss and kicked off.^[20]^[21]

Milan scored within the first minute of the match, after captain Paolo Maldini headed in an Andrea Pirlo free-kick which had been conceded by Djimi Traore. As a result of scoring Maldini became the oldest scorer in the competition.^[21] Liverpool almost responded immediately, John Arne Riise was picked out from a corner by Steven Gerrard, hitting a volley from the edge of the penalty box, his shot is cleared only for Gerrard to cross in from the right wing, which Sami Hyypia heads towards goal producing a save out of Dida. Milan almost extended their lead in the 13th minute, after Crespo's header was cleared off the line by Luis García. A few minutes later Liverpool made a substitution after Harry Kewell picked up a groin injury, and was replaced by Vladimír Šmicer. Soon after Kaka played a ball through to Andriy Shevchenko who put his shot past Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, but he was adjudged to have been in an offside position and the goal did not stand. Shevchenko had another chance to score a few minutes later; after being played onside by Traore his shot was saved by Dudek after coming under pressure from the Liverpool defence. Luis García had two chances to score following Shevchenko's shot, the first saw his shot go well over the crossbar on the edge of the penalty area, his second saw him screw his shot wide after being headed through by Baroš. Straight after this attack Crespo went through on goal only to be flagged for offside. Almost immediately after this Liverpool's penalty claim was turned down after Alessandro Nesta's alleged handball. Milan countered and scored; Kaka carried the ball into the Liverpool half, passed to Shevchenko, who passed to Crespo at the far post to score and make it 2–0. Minutes later Crespo scored again, Kaka providing the pass and the striker chipping over Dudek to extend Milan's lead again.^[20]

At the start of the second half, Liverpool made a substitution with Dietmar Hamann replacing Steve Finnan. Following this they decided to play three in defence and four in midfield in an attempt to reduce the deficit. Liverpool had the best chance early on with Xabi Alonso sending an effort from 35 yards (32 m) narrowly past Milan's right hand post. A minute later Liverpool scored through captain Steven Gerrard who headed in John Arne Riise's cross. Almost immediately afterwards Liverpool scored again, Vladimír Šmicer sending a bouncing shot past Dida in the Milan goal leaving Liverpool only a goal behind. Three minutes later Liverpool were awarded a penalty after Gennaro Gattuso brought down Steven Gerrard in the Milan penalty area. Xabi Alonso's penalty was saved, but he scored from the rebound, to equalise for Liverpool. Both Milan and Liverpool had chances to take the lead after this, but Clarence Seedorf and Riise failed to score. Milan almost took the lead in the 70th minute, after Dudek dropped a low cross into Shevchenko, whose effort was cleared off the line by Traore. Gerrard then had a chance to score but sent his shot just over the crossbar. About ten minutes later García could not control a pass from Gerrard which lead to a Milan attack, Crespo pulling the ball back to Kaka, whose shot was blocked by Jamie Carragher. A number of substitutions were made before the end of full time with Liverpool replacing Milan Baroš with Djibril Cisse, whilst Milan replaced Hernán Crespo and Clarence Seedorf with Jon Dahl Tomasson and Serginho respectively. Milan had the last chance before full time, Kaka failed to direct Jaap Stam's header towards goal, meaning there would be extra time for the 13th time in the competition's history.^[22]

Liverpool kicked off the first half of extra time. Pirlo had the chance of the early stages, but he put his shot over the crossbar. Tomasson came close in the later stages of the first period of extra time, but he could make contact with the ball. Vladimir Šmicer required treatment for cramp towards the end of the first period, as a number of Liverpool players began to tire. Liverpool had the best of the early exchanges winning two corners, but could not score. A few minutes later Milan make their final substitution replacing Gennaro Gattuso with Manuel Rui Costa. The best chance of the second half came near the end when Shevchenko headed a cross at goal, which Dudek saved, only for it to rebound back out to Shevchenko, who again headed at goal, which Dudek again saved pushing the header over the bar. Liverpool had one last chance at the end of extra time, but John Arne Riise's free kick shot is blocked and following this the referee signaled the end of extra time, meaning a penalty shootout would decide the winner.^[22]

Both sides had won their last European Cups on penalties, it was also the second time in three years the final would be decided by a penalty shootout.^[21] Milan were first to take a penalty with Serginho, who shot over the crossbar, following Jerzy Dudek dancing on the goal-line. Dietmar Hamann took Liverpool's first penalty, scoring to put his side 1–0 up. Andrea Pirlo was next for Milan, and his penalty was saved as Dudek dived to his right to save the shot. Cisse scored his penalty to put Liverpool 2–0 up, and Tomasson scored Milan's next penalty to reduce the deficit. Riise was next for Liverpool, but his penalty was saved by Dida, Kaka scored the subsequent penalty to level the scores at 2–2. Vladimír Šmicer was next for Liverpool and scored to give them a one goal advantage. Shevchenko who had scored the winning penalty in the 2003 final had to score or Liverpool won.^[23] He hit his penalty straight down the middle of the goal, and it was saved by Dudek, to ensure Liverpool won 3–2 and claimed their fifth European Cup.^[22]^[20]

By winning the European Cup/Champions League a fifth time, Liverpool earned the privilege of the UEFA badge of honour. Under normal competition rules, the winning club gets to keep the trophy for only 10 months, as they must deliver it to UEFA two months before the next year's final, but they do receive a scaled-down replica to keep. However, in this case the rules specified that the trophy became the permanent possession of Liverpool because it was their fifth European Cup. The 2005–06 participants competed for a new (identical) trophy.^[24]

As a result of winning the competition Liverpool would face CSKA Moscow the winners of the UEFA Cup , in the UEFA Super Cup. The subsequent match played on the 26 August was won 3–1 by Liverpool after extra time.^[25] Their success also meant they would participate in the FIFA Club World Cup. They were awarded a bye in the first round and faced Deportivo Saprissa in the semi-final winning 3–0. They faced Copa Libertadores champions São Paulo in the final losing 1–0, despite having three goals disallowed.^[26]

[edit] Details

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Post match

Liverpool celebrated their fifth European Cup victory by parading the trophy around Liverpool in an open-top double decker bus the day after the final. They were cheered by approxiamtely 1,000,000 fans as they toured the city, with 300,000 of those fans located around St George's Hall the final destination of the parade. Business experts estimated that one in five workers took time off following the victory, after partying all night, and many Everton fans were said to have taken the day off work to escape their colleagues jibes about Liverpool's victory. It was also estimated that Liverpudlians had drunk 10,000 bottles of champagne celebrating the victory, with supermarket chain Sainsbury's stating: "We've never seen anything like it. We would usually expect to sell this much champagne at Christmas".^[31]

Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez admitted after the match that the manner of his side's victory had stunned him: "My problem is that I don't have words to express the things that I feel at this moment," he said after the match".^[32] Benítez was also prepared to break up his winning side after the final with a number of players expected to leave the club to make way for new arrivals. One of those leaving was Vladimír Šmicer who had scored Liverpool's second goal, his contract was up at the end of the season. Dietmar Hamann was in the same situation, with Milan Baroš and Igor Bišćan expected to leave as well.^[33]

Meanwhile Milan were amazed at how they had lost the final after leading 3–0 at half-time, manager Carlo Ancelotti blamed a crazy period of play for their defeat: "We had six minutes of madness in which we threw away the position we had reached until then". The result compounded Milan's failure to win Serie A a week before the match, their draw away to Palermo meant Juventus became Italian champions. Vice-President Adriano Galliani played down the events though stating: ""Even if we come second in the league, and second in the Champions League, this is not a disastrous season for us". Captain Paolo Maldini was less optimistic stating that this was a "huge disappointment", but that he added that Milan would accept the defeat and "go out with their heads high".^[34]

Much of the discussion after the final was about the future of Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard who had been linked with a move to rivals Cheslea. He gave a clue about his future intention stating: "How can I think of leaving Liverpool after a night like this?".^[35] Contract talks were slow to take place and it seemed like Gerrard would move to Chelsea, after his agent Stuart Marshall admitted talks had broken and that they were "unlikely to be re-opened". Days later Gerrard confirmed that he wanted to leave Liverpool, citing the events of the five or six weeks after the victory as the reason. The next day however Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry released a statement confirming that Gerrard had decided to stay at Anfield. Gerrard signed a new four year contract on the 8 July to end the speculation over his future.^[36]

Despite winning the competition Liverpool's place in next season's Champions League was still in doubt. They faced a three week wait to discover if they would be allowed to defend their title. UEFA were to meet at Manchester on 17 June to decide their fate. A decision was made a week earlier on the 10 June with UEFA confirming that Liverpool would be able to compete in the Champions League. The UEFA Executive Committee amended the regulations for future competitions so that the holders will have the right to defend their title and therefore qualify automatically. Liverpool were entered into the First Qualifying round, and were given no "country protection" meaning they could face another English club at any stage of the competition.^[37]

[edit] References

^ "Regulations of the UEFA Champions League 2006/07" (PDF) pp.7–9: §§1.01–1.02 Entries for the competitions. UEFA (March 2006). Archived from the original on 2007-03-12. Retrieved on 2008-07-16.
^ Regulations of the UEFA Champions League 2006/07, p.38: Annex 1a: Access List for the 2006/07 UEFA Club Competitions
^ Regulations of the UEFA Champions League 2006/07, pp. 8–9: §§4.03-4.06: Group stage
^ Regulations of the UEFA Champions League 2006/07, pp. 9–10: §§4.07-4.10: First knock-out round / Quarter-finals / Semi-finals; §5.01: Away goals, extra time
^ "UEFA Champions League: Season 2004 - 2005: Third qualifying round". UEFA. Retrieved on 2008-11-08.
^ "UEFA Champions League: Season 2004 - 2005: Group A". UEFA. Retrieved on 2008-11-08.
^ "UEFA Champions League: Season 2004 - 2005: Group F". UEFA. Retrieved on 2008-11-08.
^ "UEFA Champions League: Season 2004 - 2005: First knockout round". UEFA. Retrieved on 2008-11-08.
^ "UEFA Champions League: Season 2004 - 2005: Quarter-finals". UEFA. Retrieved on 2008-11-08.
^ "UEFA Champions League: Season 2004 - 2005: Semi-finals". UEFA. Retrieved on 2008-11-08.
^ "Istanbul setting for final date". UEFA. Retrieved on 29 November 2008.
^ "European aristocrats draw pistols". BBC Sport (23 May 2005). Retrieved on 30 November 2008.
^ "Uefa leaves Liverpool 'door open'". BBC Sport (1 May 2005). Retrieved on 29 November 2008.
^ "FA supports Liverpool's Euro case", BBC Sport (10 May 2008). Retrieved on 29 November 2008.
^ "Ancelotti aims to end Euro debate", BBC Sport (17 May 2005). Retrieved on 30 November 2008.
^ Sanghera, Mandeep (5 May 2005). "Liverpool fans begin final frenzy", BBC Sport. Retrieved on 30 November 2008.
^ "Liverpool ready for AC Milan test" (25 May 2008). Retrieved on 30 November 2008.
^ ^a ^b "Ingredients suggest final to savour". UEFA (25 May 2005). Retrieved on 29 November 2008.
^ "Wenger backs Reds for Euro glory". BBC Sport (23 May 2005). Retrieved on 30 November 2008.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Liverpool 3-3 AC Milan work=The Guardian". Retrieved on 30 November 2008.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Minute by minute". UEFA (25 May 2005). Retrieved on 30 November 2008.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Champions League final clockwatch". BBC Sport (25 May 2005). Retrieved on 30 November 2008.
^ "Liverpool triumph in Turkey". UEFA (25 May 2005). Retrieved on 30 November.
^ "Regulations for the UEFA Champions League 2006-07" (PDF) (in English). UEFA. Retrieved on 10 July 2006.
^ "Liverpool 3-1 CSKA Moscow (aet)". BBC Sport (26 August 2005). Retrieved on 30 November 2008.
^ "Sao Paulo 1-0 Liverpool". BBC Sport (18 December 2005). Retrieved on 30 November 2008.
^ ^a ^b "Full time report" (PDF). UEFA (25 May 2008). Retrieved on 30 November 2008.
^ "Line-ups" (PDF). UEFA (25 May 2005). Retrieved on 30 November 2008.
^ "Half Time Report" (PDF). UEFA (25 May 2005). Retrieved on 29 November 2008.
^ "Statistics". UEFA (25 May 2005). Retrieved on 30 November 2008.
^ "Victory tour seen by a million". BBC (26 May 2005). Retrieved on 30 November 2008.
^ "Benitez stunned by epic comeback". BBC Sport (26 May 2005). Retrieved on 1 December 2008.
^ "Benitez to launch new Anfield era". BBC Sport (27 May 2005). Retrieved on 1 December 2008.
^ "Ancelotti shattered after defeat". BBC Sport (25 May 2005). Retrieved on 1 December 2008.
^ "Gerrard could stay after Euro win". BBC Sport (26 May 2005). Retrieved on 30 November 2008.
^ "The Steven Gerrard saga". BBC Sport (10 July 2005). Retrieved on 30 November 2008.
^ "Liverpool allowed to defend title". UEFA (10 June 2005). Retrieved on 30 November 2008.

2005 UEFA Champions League Final

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