To many, February is the month of romance and love. February 14th will mark Valentine’s Day, seeing romanticists the world over enjoying a wonderful time with their loved ones. But to football fans, that date marks the return of the UEFA Champions League, and the competition is back with a bang.
On February 14th, world football’s most beloved club competition gets back underway as Paris Saint-Germain face off with Bayern Munich at the Parc De Princes in a repeat of the 2020 final. There are further spine-tingling ties as 2019 finalists Tottenham Hotspur face off with Italian Champions AC Milan, as well as Jude Bellingham’s Borussia Dortmund going head to head with Graham Potter’s new-look Chelsea.
Liverpool will have to wait until February 21st for their European adventure to get back underway. They face off with Real Madrid in a repeat of last year’s final. Online sportsbook Bovada, whose sports offering can be found on this page, make Manchester City the favourites for glory. But truth be told, the competition is wide open.
While The Reds have reached the Champions League final in three of the last five seasons, even lifting the trophy for a sixth time back in 2019, we will never forget Istanbul in 2005. That year, Rafa Benitez’s plucky underdogs went toe-to-toe with Europe’s elite and somehow managed to go all the way. In honour of the UCL’s return, let’s relieve that famous European adventure from 18 years ago.
It’s a story that has been told countless times. It is the tale of an unlikely victory, one that seemed impossible at first, it is the story of one of the greatest comebacks in sports history. In 2004/05, Liverpool won the UEFA Champions League by coming back from three goals down against AC Milan in the final, but the journey very nearly didn’t make it past the group stage.
Progressing From a Challenging Group A
Liverpool began their journey with a 2-0 victory over the previous year’s beaten finalists, AS Monaco. But they were stunned in Athens in their second group game as they were beaten by Olympiacos. A goalless home draw against the previous year’s semifinalists Deportivo La Coruña meant that the Reds had it all to do over the next three matchdays.
Rafa Benitez’s side managed to grind out a 1-0 victory in the return leg in Spain, giving them a great chance to progress to the knockout round. However, a 1-0 defeat in Monaco courtesy of a goal from former Real Madrid and Barcelona star Javier Saviola meant that they had to beat Olympiacos by two clear goals in the final game of the group stages to progress.
As we all remember, Liverpool fell behind early courtesy of a Rivaldo free kick, however, second-half goals from Florent Sinama Pongolle and Neil Mellor meant that the Reds had a chance. As the game ticked into injury time, captain and talisman Steven Gerrard unleashed a 25-yard rocket that flew into the bottom right-hand corner, giving his side the two-goal victory, they needed to progress to the knockout stages.
The Fairytale Run
After overcoming Olympiacos, Liverpool went on to face beaten 2002 finalists Bayer Leverkusen in the Round of 16. They won 6-2 on aggregate after winning 3-1 both home and away. In the quarterfinals, they faced Italian giants Juventus, who had won five of their six group-stage games and had just knocked out nine-time champions Real Madrid in the previous round.
Despite this, Liverpool managed to win 2-1 at Anfield with Luis Garcia scoring a stunning thirty-yard volley. They would then go on to draw 0-0 away from home in Turin to progress through to the semifinals against all odds.
In the final four, Liverpool were pitted against Premier League rivals Chelsea —who, under Jose Mourinho were well on their way to their first English top-flight crown in fifty years —in what was an incredibly tense affair over two legs. The first leg at Stamford Bridge ended 0-0 which meant everything rested on Anfield for the return leg.
That second leg on Merseyside will never be forgotten, and it was perhaps the best atmosphere the iconic old stadium had ever seen. The hosts managed to pick up the victory courtesy of Luis Garcia’s ghost goal, which is still contested by the likes of Mourinho until this day. That didn’t bother Liverpool one bit, however, and Rafa Benitez’s side had booked their place in Istanbul for the final against AC Milan.
That Final
Going into the final no one gave Liverpool much hope; especially since AC Milan boasted some incredible players like Kaka and Andriy Shevchenko who would go on to win Ballon d’Or titles later that year and in 2007 respectively. But despite this daunting task ahead of them, no one could have predicted what was about to transpire.
Milan raced into the lead inside 60 seconds with a goal from captain Paolo Maldini, before the mercurial Kaka took over. He was in scintillating form as he twice assisted for Chelsea loanee Hernan Crespo, which gave the Italian champions a three-goal lead inside 30 minutes…but then came The Miracle.
Three goals within six minutes after the halftime restart from Gerrard, Vladimir Smicer, and Xabi Alonso saw the Reds unbelievably level proceedings. The tie would tick into extra time, where keeper Jerzy Dudek made a stunning double save from Shevchenko to keep the game level.
After two hours of intense, heart-in-your-mouth action, the destination of the trophy would be determined via a penalty shootout. Dudek would save from Pirlo and then would save the decisive spot-kick from Shevchenko to seal a fifth UEFA Champions League success for the club and the first in over two decades.
