Former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has revealed how he tried to cheer up his players during the 2005 Champions League final – but admitted that even he “didn’t believe his team could win the game”.
Often hailed as the Miracle of Istanbul, Liverpool’s epic comeback against AC Milan went down in football history as one of the greatest sporting comebacks of all time, as the Reds overturned a 3-0 deficit to win the Champions League.
Paolo Maldini stunned the Reds by opening the scoring in the first minute of the match, with Hernán Crespo scoring twice before the break.
Things had looked bleak for the Anfield side going into the dressing room at half-time with Benitez speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, hosted by Sky Betrevealing that even he thought the game was out of his reach.
‘At half-time in the 2005 Champions League final, I remember telling the team that we had to score a goal, that we had nothing to lose because we had worked so hard to get to the final and to keep our heads held high,’ the former Liverpool manager said during the podcast.
“I knew that if we scored a goal, 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 bring on midfielder Dietmar Hamann after the break in place of full-back Steve Finnan, in order to gain more control over the midfield.
While Benitez claimed he was cutting a reassuring figure in the dressing room, he admitted he was also thinking about damage limitation.
“I was worried about losing the game by five or six goals, but as a coach you have to convince your players that the game is not over, so at half-time I was quite calm and was trying to find a solution to win the game,” added the Spanish football manager.
‘I wasn’t confident that we could win the game, but I had to convey the message of confidence to the players, to keep their heads up and keep going.
‘For the second half the main objective was to have control and having Dietmar Hamann was ideal because it gave us more balance, but the reality was that the Italian teams were not used to playing against the 4-3-2-1 formation and that helped us.’
Benitez also revealed what was going through his mind at half-time, saying he had to instil confidence in his players that they could turn things around.
“At that moment of the break, I was thinking of solutions. I was thinking of embarrassing myself, but ultimately, we needed solutions and that was to make sure that the players had the conviction that they could win the game and that was our solution,” he added.
Liverpool quickly found their rhythm after the break when Steven Gerrard headed in John Arne Riise’s cross and pulled one back. Two minutes later, Vladimir Smicer curled a low shot into the right corner to move Liverpool within one goal of their Serie A rivals.
With momentum on his side, Gerrard advanced towards the area, before being brought down by Gennaro Gattuso, and referee Manuel Mejuto Gonzalez awarded a penalty against Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
Xabi Alonso’s initial penalty was saved before the midfielder converted the rebound to equalise 3-3.
‘What people don’t realise is that after I’d done my team talk at half-time and sent Dietmar Hamann off to warm up, the physio told me that Steve Finnan couldn’t continue, so after I’d said everything and changed our tactics for the second half, I had to change things again at the last minute.’
Benitez brought on Djibril Cissé in the 85th minute in place of Milan Baros and it turned out to be a good substitution.
With the match heading to penalties, their two substitutes, Hamann and Cisse, would score the first two spot-kicks for Liverpool, while Serginho and Andrea Pirlo failed to convert for Milan.
Riise was unable to convert Liverpool’s third but Smicer responded with a fourth to seal a sensational comeback for the Reds, 3-2 on penalties.