After The Match 

            


Milan-Liverpool 5-6 (pens) (3-3 aet)     Wed May 25.         CL Final
Goals: Gerrard (54), Smicer (56), Alonso (59 pen)
Maldini (1), Crespo (39, 43)
Team: Dudek, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Traore, Garcia, Gerrard, Alonso, Riise, Kewell, Baros
Subs: Smicer (Kewell 23), Hamann (Finnan 46), Cisse (Baros 85)
Not used: Carson, Josemi, Nunez, Biscan
Yellow: Carragher (76), Baros (78)
Red: None
Referee: Manuel Enrique Mejuto Gonzalez (Spain)
Attendance: 65,000

                                     MATCH-REPORTS & RESULTS 
TEAM STATS
Shots on target:
Shots off target:
Fouls conceded:
Corners:
Yellow:
Red:

 

 

 

HEADLINES "My wife is delighted
and I'm sure she will
be taking
me shopping!"

           Rafael Benitez

2605: Conquering heroes return to Liverpool
2605: Benitez: Stick with us Steve
2605: Why it was the greatest cup final


MORE FROM THE MATCH



Back to where the Cup belongs - at Anfield. (Photo: AP)

MAY 26
Conquering heroes return to Liverpool

Sporting Life

Liverpool's conquering heroes brought the European Cup back for keeps in an emotional return to the city on Thursday night.

The main routes into the city were gridlocked as an estimated quarter of a million fans brought Liverpool to a standstill.

Delirious fans in red shirts frequently brought the team bus to a halt on the route as champagne cascaded down from its open top.

The five-times winners now get to keep this trophy for good, having shattered AC Milan in a penalty shoot-out in Istanbul 24 hours earlier.

The players had partied long into the night at their Crown Plaza Hotel, and then were heading home on the four-hour flight back to Merseyside.

There they were met by fans who had waited 21 years to see the trophy return to the city, and the party continued long into the night.

Manager Rafael Benitez joined his players at the front of the bus, brandishing the trophy, and said: "Seeing these smiling faces is the greatest pleasure.

"They have been magnificent all season, they have been our 12th man and behaved perfectly in Istanbul.

"I have always said our fans are the best in England. Now I know they are the best in Europe too."

Fans travelled to Turkey for the match and returned without one single arrest, to the relief of the Liverpool authorities.

The loudest cheers were for local players Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard as the cavalcade crawled along Queens Drive towards Anfield carrying the new kings of Europe - the bus adorned by a banner now with five European Cup trophies on it.

Gerrard said: "These fans have inspired us, so it is great to bring the cup back for them. They were fantastic in Turkey, and they really lifted us to victory after that first half when we were 3-0 down."

Guests on the plane trip home were allowed to each hold the trophy and have their photos taken as it was passed down the plane.

Gerrard had slept with the trophy in his bed at the team hotel the night before, and he has barely allowed it out of his sight ever since.

He added: "I said we would bring the cup back for these fans, and now we have done it."

It is two decades since Liverpool has witnessed such scenes, and the five-mile trip from the end of the M62 to St George's Hall in the city centre took more than two hours.

More than 100,000 fans were on the streets after the match the night before in wild celebrations, but it was nothing compared to these amazing scenes.

Fans danced on the top of petrol station roofs, they hung from lampposts and clung precariously to the rooftops of houses on the route.

Liverpool has been a city in footballing denial, a club in slow decline from the days that they once ruled Europe.

But not anymore if these scenes are anything to go by. Their astonishing fans turned out in vast numbers because they believe Rafa Benitez has brought the birth of a new golden era - and a vast banner proclaiming: "Viva Benitez" said everything about how people had taken the Spaniard to their hearts.

The parade was halted constantly by sheer weight of numbers, and there were even some Everton shirts to be seen, with one banner in blue saying: "EFC congratulates LFC for their triumph".

Chairman David Moores said after the Turkish triumph: "Where else could you see fans like this? There must have been 40,000 in the stadium."

Well, by the time he had returned to Merseyside, a whole lot more were in the streets of Liverpool as delighted and grateful fans stood in almost disbelief welcoming their heroes home.

And by the time the team bus reached Anfield, they were halted again by many thousands of fans, the coach inching its way through the masses aided by dozens of police horses and eventually stopping in front of the Kop.

The scenes continued as the parade slowly crawled down to the city centre, where many thousands more waited in St George's Square.


MAY 26
Benitez: Stick with us Steve

Sporting Life

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez wants Steven Gerrard to stay at the club for life.

The inspirational England midfielder went to bed clutching the Champions League trophy last night for fear of mislaying it - just as the Liverpool boss had similarly endured the prospect of losing his prize asset amid a myriad of doubts over his captain's future all season.

That is until now. With Gerrard poised to sign a deal worth up to £100,000 a week, Benitez revealed his desire for the midfielder, who turns 25 next week, to stay at the club for the rest of his career.

For he is counting upon Gerrard to underpin Liverpool's revival for many years to come, with the distractions of doubts over his future finally set to be removed.

"One of the reasons we didn't play at our normal level in the Premiership was that people were always talking about Steven and his future," revealed the Liverpool boss.

"But now I think he'll be happy and, for sure, he will play well for us next season - and maybe 10 more seasons after that.

"Steven said he wants to win more trophies and I'm sure he will stay with us. We need good players with heart and passion, and he's one of them."

Having come so close to joining Chelsea last summer, Gerrard had been persuaded to test Liverpool's ambition for just one more season. It was worth the wait.

"How can I leave after a night like this?" he admitted shortly after their penalty success despite trailing 3-0 to AC Milan at half-time.

That was before the celebrations began and the cup joined him in his hotel bed for what was left of the night in Istanbul.

"I slept with the cup in my hotel room. I did not want it out of my sight. When I woke up and someone took it away, I felt I had lost a part of me," he admitted.

Chief executive Rick Parry smiled at Gerrard's next plan - to take the cup to his local pub in Huyton, just as Phil Thompson had done in 1984 - remarking "we'll have to see about that!"

However, he is delighted at Gerrard's declaration that he intends to sit down "really soon" to discuss his future and that things are already "looking good".

Parry responded: "It's down to Steve how long he signs for. I don't think it's down to money for him, it's about his craving for success.

"He's made no secret of the fact that his ideal would be to win trophies with Liverpool. That's our ambition too, so the two go hand in hand.

"We always felt the key was that he could fulfil his ambitions at Liverpool. From when we sat down with him last year, he knows we're as ambitious as he is.

"There was a dilemma for him last summer which we can understand but our message was 'stick with it and let's see what happens'.

"Well, look what has happened. It shows he made the right decision in terms of staying and now we want to kick on together."

Gerrard put Liverpool back on the route to recovery in Istanbul, but even Benitez admitted all had appeared lost at half-time at 3-0 down.

"The players were sitting there with their heads down. We knew it would be really difficult but we just talked about scoring one goal" he revealed.

"Then maybe things could change - and they did. When our players heard the supporters, they ran a little bit more. By the end, Milan were really afraid.

"The fans were always with us. We said we needed to do something for them and for us. When you start losing, you have to change not only the tactics but the mentality as well."

Benitez brought on Dietmar Hamann for the injured Steve Finnan, made three defensive changes and, with Gerrard released forward, Liverpool struck three times in just six minutes.

The amazing recovery act could prove costly for Benitez, having promised his wife some expensive jewellery if his team prevailed, but it is a price he is more than willing to pay.

He concluded: "My wife is delighted and I'm sure she will be taking me shopping!

"She reminded that I had said many years ago that I would be [European] champion before I was 45 and now it's true."


backbutton.gif (1697 bytes)

Thor Zakariassen ©