Liverpool FC Forum

[jonnymac1979]

What happened in Istanbul will never happen again in a European Cup final. To win the trophy in the way we did was unbelievable, ridiculous, amazing. Looking back, I still do not really know how those things happened but that game wasn't just the highlight of my career, it will probably end up being the highlight of all of our careers.

It was the way we won it that made it all so incredible. At half-time I remember coming back into the dressing room dazed and confused. We had gone into the game really thinking we had a good chance of winning. Sure, Milan were probably the favourites, but we knew they hadn't played well towards the end of their season in Italy and we hoped to use that as an advantage. Maybe their confidence wasn't so high. But at half-time all that had gone out of the window.

Nobody could believe it. We had hoped to keep things tight and hit them on the break, so to come in 3-0 down was horrific. They'd played so well and we just hadn't coped with any of it. We just sat there really down and, to be honest, we were just thankful that we hadn't conceded five or six. No one could really explain what had happened.

The manager tried to calm us down and reorganise us, get us focused, but we were in shock. When we came out of the tunnel for the second half we thought our chance had gone. We were really sad, of course, and frustrated. But then the sight of all the Liverpool fans in the stadium standing up and singing, as if they were happy and proud still, just made us all think: "Come on, let's do something about this. It's not all over. We should be proud to be playing in the final, but now let's actually show what we can do." What happened next was just crazy.

When Stevie scored the first goal I just thought: "Great, OK, at least we have a consolation. The scoreline isn't too bad now, not so embarrassing." When the second went in it suddenly felt as if we could actually pull this off, this ridiculous comeback. It could actually happen. Even so, when the third went in it was still unbelievable. People do not do that against Italian sides. It is almost unheard of. I remember looking round when Xabi scored and thinking: "What is happening here? What has happened to Milan?"

We couldn't dare let it slip away from us again. Most people, when they saw the saves I made from Shevchenko in extra-time, say that is the moment they knew we'd win it. My first coach used to tell me that making saves like that was down to a little bit of luck, a little bit of training, a little bit of reflex, a little bit of everything. It was incredible, the best save I've ever made probably. No, definitely.

But I was not sure yet that we would win. In a penalty shoot-out you never know, though deep down I wondered whether fortune was with us. By the time the third penalty came around and they still had not scored, I felt as if I had enough of an advantage to try and put them off by doing something crazy, something to distract them.

That's when I did the Bruce Grobbelaar legs, just to show I was confident. When Shevchenko missed, the emotion knocked me out. Suddenly, this wave of relief comes over you. Your mind is going crazy, you know you've made history, but it's as if none of it is real. It is hard to describe - I've never known a feeling of such joy in my life. The way we'd won was a dream.

I don't think it really sank in properly until we were on the coach driving through Liverpool. It's a big family at the club, even down to the people you bump into in the street who are Liverpool fans - the supporters had lifted us, and we'd repaid them by winning the trophy.

It was as I had said to the Milan striker Jon Dahl Tomasson in the build-up to the game. I had said to him that we'd win the cup because we wanted it more than they did. The club had waited 21 years to win the trophy and Milan had won it only a few years earlier. We just had to have that cup. He had just laughed at me, thinking that I was mad. He was not laughing at the end.

Victory in numbers

4

Number of victories for Liverpool in their first eight matches in the competition

20

Goals scored by Liverpool in the competition, a quarter of them by Luis García

1,706

Miles from Liverpool to Istanbul, the furthest any side has had to travel for a European Cup final since Steaua Bucharest played in Seville in 1986

27

Players used by Liverpool in the 15 games they played in the competition. Finnish defender Sami Hyypia was the only one to play every minute of the campaign

5

This was Liverpool's fifth European Cup title. Only Milan (6) and Real Madrid (9) have won more

13

The number of different nationalities used by Liverpool during the campaign

6

Goals scored before the penalty shoot-out, the highest-scoring final since Benfica beat Real Madrid 5-3 in 1962

21

Number of years since Liverpool's previous European Cup win - 4-2 on penalties against Roma in Rome

Guardian Article