Liverpool FC, 5th time European Champions.

They nearly did not qualify for Champion’s League football. Juventus were the favourites to beat them, so were Chelsea. When they reached the finals, there was a glimmer of hope that they’d beat AC Milan, who had one of the most experienced teams for a Champion’s League final and medal. All that faded to nothing when Liverpool were 3 – 0 down at Istanbul during half time.

Heh, was at Ken’s place watching the match, and his friends were just arriving at the lobby of his apartment. They were Liverpool fans and I kidded that AC Milan would score a goal while they rode the lift up. I sat in disbelief as that prediction came through after only 30 seconds into the game. The match continued and AC Milan dominated. Liverpool’s solid defence against Chelsea seemed to crumble against AC Milan, offering them too much space in midfield. So came 3 wonderful goals from the Italian side.

At 3 – 0 down, we thought that the match was decided and decided to go have breakfast. Went to Mcdonalds for takeaway. Came back to see Alonso score the rebound penalty. Heh, I thought the score was now 3 – 1, until I heard the commentator mention that Liverpool were now LEVEL with Milan. All of us sat in disbelief as we continued watching as the 3 goals in 7 minutes by Liverpool sank in. Rafael Benitez must have gave a rousing speech during half time as the current Liverpool side was a totally different team as they fought for possession and made attempts at goal. The manager had made a sound tactical change with a substitution and Liverpool were now more creative in midfield.

The match carried on into extra time with a super double save from Dudek (heh, my friends’ heartbeats would stop for a split second everytime the ball whizzed passed the goal post as Dudek was infamous for fumbling balls) to keep Liverpool in the game. After 120 minutes of passing the ball, it came down to deciding the game with penalties.

In reality, I dread penalties as they are an unfair decider to a game. However, such is soccer where things rarely go as predicted with Liverpool actually coming back from 3 goals down, it was quite amazing and I was still in disbelief when Milan’s players took the first spot kick. It was a miss! Followed by a fine save by Dudek against the second kicker for Milan. The spot kicks were at 3 – 2, advantage Liverpool as Riise’s kick was saved by Dida. Heh, they decide to keep us in suspense until the very last minute. So it was Shevchenko, who took the winning kick against Juventus two years ago in the same stage of the tournament, who would take the deciding goal. Dudek did not flinch as he saved the ball (which I thought Shevchenko would not miss) and Liverpool will go down in history as the winners who were written off so early in the competition. Being 5 times champions of the European cup, they get to keep this cup as a trophy.

It was a most spectacular match from beginning to end. Rafael Benitez is now a legendary manager, having achieved so much in just one year at the helm of Liverpool. It was totally unbelievable, for a team that is only 5th in the Premiership, to win against giants in Champion’s League football. Heh, still stunned from the match. Now it’s whether UEFA will let up and offer Liverpool a chance to defend their title next year, as only the top 4 in their respective leagues are given the opportunity to play at such an elite stage.

We’ll know next season.