Former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has revealed how he attempted to galvanise his players during the 2005 Champions League final but admitted that even he ‘did not believe his side could win the match’.
Often hailed as the miracle of Istanbul, Liverpool’s epic resurgance against AC Milan went down in football folklore as one of the greatest sporting comebacks of all time, with the Reds managing to turn around a 3-0 deficit to win the Champions League.
Paolo Maldini shocked the Reds by opening the scoring in the first minute of the game, with Hernan Crespo netting a brace of goals before half-time.
Things had looked bleak for the Anfield side heading into the dressing room at the break with Benitez, speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, revealing that even he thought that the game was out of their reach.
‘At half-time of the 2005 Champions League final, I remember saying to the team that we must score one goal, we have nothing to lose because we’ve worked so hard to get to the final and to keep their heads up,’ the former Liverpool manager said during the podcast.
Former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has revealed how he attempted to galvanise his players during the 2005 Champions League final
Things had looked bleak for the Anfield side heading into the dressing room at the break with Liverpool going down by 3-0 against AC Milan
‘I knew that if we scored one goal, then we could get back into the game. We were lucky to have scored three goals in six minutes, but we changed the tactics and the dynamic of the game.’
Benitez would look to his bench after the break bringing on midfielder Dietmar Hamann for full back Steve Finnan, to gain more control over the midfield.
While Benitez stated he cut a calming figure in the dressing room, he admitted that he was also thinking about damage limitation.
‘I was worried about losing the game by five or six goals, but as a manager, you have to convince your players that the game isn’t over, so at half-time, I was quite calm, and I was trying to find a solution to win the game,’ the Spanish football coach added.
‘I didn’t have the belief that we could win the game, but I had to pass on the message of belief to the players, so they kept their heads up and kept going.
‘For the second half, the main aim was to have control and having Dietmar Hamann was ideal because he gave us more balance, but the reality was that the Italian teams weren’t used to playing against the 4-3-2-1 formation which helped us.’
Benitez also revealed what was going through his mind during the break, stating that he had to instil belief in his players that they could turn things around.
‘In that moment of half-time, I was thinking about solutions. I was thinking about being embarrassed, but ultimately, we needed solutions and that was making sure the players had the belief that they could win the game and that was our solution,’ he added.
Paolo Maldini shocked the Reds by opening the scoring in the first minute of the game
Hernan Crespo woudl fire back with a brace of goals before half-time, with Milan taking a commanding lead
Liverpool quickly found their rhythm after half-time, with Steven Gerrard heading in a cross from John Arne Riise to pull a goal back. Two minutes later, Vladimir Smicer drilled a low shot into the bottom right corner and Liverpool found themselves only one goal adrift of their Serie A opponents.
With the momentum on their side, Gerrard would advance into the penalty area, before he was pulled to the ground by Gennaro Gattuso, with referee, Manuel Mejuto González, awarding a penalty against Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
Xabi Alonso’s initial spot-kick was saved before the midfielder tapped in the rebound to equalise at 3-3.
‘What people don’t realise is that after I had done my half-time team talk and had already sent out Dietmar Hamann to warm up, the physio was telling me that Steve Finnan wasn’t able to continue so after I had said everything and changed our tactics for the second half, I had to change things again last minute.’
Benitez brought on Djibril Cisse in the 85th minute for Milan Baros and it turned out to be a good substitution.
Benitez, though, said he cut a calming figure in the dressing room during the half-time break
He had told his players to believe that they could win the final – even though he didn’t believe it himself
‘I was worried about losing the game by five or six goals, but as a manager, you have to convince your players that the game isn’t over,’ Benitez told Stick to Football
With the game heading for penalties, both of his subs, Hamann and Cisse would score the first two spot-kicks for Liverpool, while Serginho and Andrea Pirlo both failed to convert Milan’s.
Riise was unable to convert Liverpool’s third, but Smicer hit back with the fourth, sealing the sensational comeback for the reds, 3-2 on penalties.