Conquering heroes return to Liverpool
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.
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."
(Sporting Life)   

Secret talks decided Gerrard future
Steven Gerrard's advisors held secret talks with Liverpool over his new contract while the club were preparing for their historic Champions League triumph in Istanbul.
Gerrard's agent Straun Marshall held meetings with Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry to pave the way to the Liverpool captain signing a new deal which could be worth as much as £5million a year.
Those talks were the reason Gerrard was so positive in the after-match press conference when he told the world he could not see himself leaving the club after they had stunned Europe by beating AC Milan in a penalty shoot-out in a hysterical
Ataturk Stadium.
(Ananova)   
  
Benitez: Stick with us Steve
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."
(Sporting Life)      

FA fights Liverpool's corner
The Football Association are to step up their attempts to persuade Uefa to grant Liverpool a Champions League spot next season after their dramatic triumph over AC Milan on Wednesday night.
FA chief executive, Brian Barwick, confirmed that the leading four clubs in the Premiership would go forward to take part in football's premier domestic competition for the 2005-06 campaign.
But he is hoping that Uefa will allow Liverpool, who finished fifth in the table behind Merseyside rivals Everton, will be allowed to defend their title which they won on penalties after a 3-3 draw with Milan in Istanbul.
Barwick said: "Liverpool are the European champions and we believe as European champions they should get the chance to play in the Champions League next season.
"We will now be keeping up a dialogue with Uefa which we have been having for the last couple of months.
"We spotted this potential scenario a fair while ago and so have been in touch with them both verbally and in written form - and we will continue to talk.
"We are more in a situation of how do we, for good sporting reasons, find a way to persuade Uefa that they should find room for Liverpool?
"I think at the moment, if you ask world football opinion, they would be in."
(TEAMtalk) 
   
Congratulations from The Queen
The Queen congratulated Liverpool on their victory having been informed of the win after flying back from Canada on Thursday.
"Congratulations on your remarkable win last night," said the Queen.
"It was a magnificent achievement which will be remembered for many years both in Liverpool and across the country."
(BBC Sport Online)

Blair: "The whole country is very proud of you"
Prime Minister Tony Blair was telephoned by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to pass on his congratulations, and himself sent a message to the victorious Liverpool team and manager Rafael Benitez.
In the message, Mr Blair said: "Unbelievable. Incredible. Brilliant. The whole country is very proud of you."
He later added: "Wasn't it absolutely amazing? Anyway, Liverpool can be very proud of itself and Britain's very proud of Liverpool."
The Prime Minister's wife Cherie said: "I am absolutely delighted of course as a Liverpool girl. It is a fantastic news for the whole city and the whole country."
Conservative leader and Liverpool supporter Michael Howard also paid tribute to the Reds for their remarkable fightback.
"Three-nil down at half-time I thought oh dear, all the dreams are going to dissolve, but what a second half, they were unbelievable," said Howard.
(BBC Sport Online)  
  
Reina claims Reds move is close
Liverpool's Champions League penalty-saving hero Jerzy Dudek could find himself playing second fiddle to Jose Manuel Reina next season.
The Villarreal goalkeeper claims that he is on the verge of joining Rafael Benitez's Spanish contingent at Anfield and admits it is a move that he cannot resist.
"It has still not yet been finalised but I cannot deny that I am very close to joining Liverpool," Reina said.
"There is still not an agreement between the clubs but it is very likely that it will be made shortly.
"If the deal is closed then I can walk away happy because I hope that people understand my position in that I am signing for the champions of Europe and that Liverpool is not just any team.
"It had to be a very big club for me to go to from Villarreal."
(Sporting Life)  
  
Shevchenko praises Reds fight back
Andriy Shevchenko believes Liverpool were destined to claim the Champions League but still praised their "winning mentality".
The AC Milan striker, who missed the decisive penalty in the shoot-out after a pulsating 3-3 draw in Istanbul, was impressed at the way Rafael Benitez's men hit back to take the game into extra-time after being 3-0 down at the interval.
He said: "It's very hard to explain.
"But I think it was destiny that decided to change sides and give the cup to Liverpool."
(Sporting Life)

Dudek grabs Grob's vote
Legendary Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar insists Champions League hero Jerzy Dudek "did a much better job" than he did when the Reds won the competition in 1984.
He described Dudek's unconventional posturing in the penalty shoot-out as "like a starfish with jelly legs".
Grobbelaar inspired Liverpool to European Cup glory against Roma 21 years ago after a penalty shoot-out, and in Istanbul Dudek did the same against AC Milan.
Dudek copied Grobbelaar's bizarre tactic from the Reds' last European Cup win by waving his arms around and wobbling his legs as the Milan penalty takers approached.
"He did a much better job than I did," said Grobbelaar. "He looked like a starfish with jelly legs to me but it worked.
"This must be a hell of a high for him, and the double save against Shevchenko in extra-time was one of the best I've ever seen."
(TEAMtalk)  

Dudek: Pope John Paul II inspired me
Liverpool's amazing recovery last night started with a goal from Steven Gerrard, but was complete thanks to Jerzy Dudek's work during the penalty shoot-out.
When Dudek made an amazing double save towards the end of injury time, anyone who already doubted must by then have thought there was somebody looking down kindly on Liverpool and was ensuring they got to take that trophy.
Perhaps it was the recently departed Pope John Paul II - a compatriate of Dudek and also a former goalkeeper. Dudek was invited to the Vatican by the late Pope when on duty for Poland against Italy, and when he met him Dudek found that the Pope knew all about Liverpool and considered himself a fan.
Jerzy wanted to dedicate last night's win to a man that meant so much to all Polish people: "I've felt inspiration since his death, I can't account for it. I had met him and was really moved by him. "It has been a devastating year for all Poles and he has been a major presence in all of our lives. It seems incredible this could happen to me in the year
of his death."
(Anfield Road.com)

No plans to change rules, say UEFA
UEFA spokesman William Gaillard insisted European football's governing body had no plans to change the rules and allow Liverpool to defend their Champions League crown.
He told BBC Radio Five Live the decision lay with the Football Association, who recently decided to allow Everton, who finished fourth in the Premiership, to keep their place in next season's Champions League qualifying rounds.
"Rules are rules and they were passed for a very good reason," he said.
"The rules are what they are," Gaillard added. "They were used already once when Real Madrid won...... and actually were not among the qualifiers in the Spanish league.
"The Spanish FA told us they would replace the fourth-placed team - Real Zaragoza - with Real Madrid. It is a tough decision to make but it is not for us to make, it is for the FA and they told us Everton would be the fourth English club."
Despite Gaillard's comments, the door may not be closed completely on Liverpool playing in the Champions League next season. The FA have been lobbying hard and are expected to intensify that to persuade UEFA to allow five English teams in Europe.
The final decision is expected to be made at the UEFA executive committee meeting in Manchester on June 17.
(Ananova)

Eriksson hails 'heroic' Reds
England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has saluted Liverpool's Champions League triumph and described their stunning comeback victory over AC Milan as a "heroic" achievement.
Eriksson believes the win by Rafael Benitez's side on penalties after recovering from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 after 90 minutes and extra-time will act as a massive boost for English football in general.
The England boss, currently preparing for England's weekend international with the United States at the Soldier Field Stadium in Chicago, told www.theFA.com: "What a game it was. It was heroic."
He was quick to praise the contribution made by the Reds' skipper Steven Gerrard and his England colleague Jamie Carragher in helping the Merseysiders hoist the trophy for a fifth time.
Eriksson added: "I've never seen a European final like that ever. The final was all Milan but then the first 15 minutes of the second half was probably something Milan have never experienced before in their history.
"Liverpool played unbelievably well in the second half with an amazing combination of skill, character and determination and, from an England point of view, I must say both Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard were absolutely superb."
(Ananova)

Gerrard with the Cup in his bed
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard woke up the morning after the night before with the Champions League trophy in his bed and the prospect of a new contract worth up to £100,000 a week to keep him at Anfield.
In the wake of Liverpool's incredible triumph against AC Milan, Gerrard gave his clearest hint yet that he would be staying at Liverpool next season despite all the speculation over his future.
"We are going to sit down really soon with the manager and [chief executive] Rick Parry, and it's looking good," he revealed.
Gerrard was clearly determined not to let go of the trophy, having spent a few hours clasping it close to him in his hotel bed and still wearing his hard-fought winner's medal around his neck.
Parry revealed: "The cup ended up in Steven Gerrard's bed, he wouldn't let go of it!"
Team-mate Vladimir Smicer added: "The cup ended up with Stevie G in his room. His girlfriend wasn't here, so he had the cup in his bed instead."
Parry wryly observed he would "have to see" whether Gerrard was allowed to follow through his aim of matching Phil Thompson's example in taking the trophy back to his local pub in 1981.
(Daily Post)

Alonso hails Liverpool hero
Ecstatic Xabi Alonso hailed match-winner Jerzy Dudek for the saves that clinched Liverpool's fifth European Cup.
Aside from his heroics in the penalty shoot-out where he kept efforts from Andriy Shevchenko and Andrea Pirlo out, Dudek made an astonishing double block from Shevchenko in the dying minutes to keep the score at 3-3.
And Alonso declared: "For me he was the hero. He made great saves during the game and his save from Shevchenko was incredible. He has been a key player and is now the hero for Liverpool. He kept the trophy in our hands."
(Daily Post)   
      
Crespo stunned by Reds comeback
AC Milan striker Hernan Crespo admitted that his dream had turned sour as what initially looked like a man-of-the-match winning performance was overshadowed after Liverpool's second-half comeback snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
Crespo said: "It was a dream game initially, but it was too beautiful to be true.
"To be 3-0 up at half-time, and to have scored two goals in my first Champions League final, I would never have dreamed of it.
"But unfortunately, life is like this. You have surprises.
"It's impossible to explain what has happened to us. We have to congratulate Liverpool because they have given everything for the win when everything looked to be over."
The Argentinian hitman admitted that he was finding it hard to stomach what had happened.
Crespo added: "Penalties are always a lottery, and in this case it has favoured Liverpool. It's terrible to digest and difficult to explain what I am feeling now. But we must
look ahead."
(Sporting Life)  
     
Fans to salute Liverpool victory
Thousands of Liverpool supporters are expected to line the city's streets to celebrate the Reds' historic victory in the final of the Champions League.
The team's plane touches down at John Lennon Airport at 1615 BST and after a news conference they will embark on a two-hour open-top bus tour from 1830.
(BBC Sport Online)   

Ecstatic Liverpool fans revel at all-night party
Jubliant Liverpool supporters celebrated their club's Champions League triumph throughout the night on Wednesday, thronging central Istanbul to wave flags, swill beer and revel in their first European Cup success for 21 years.
Their fans, three-quarters of the 70,000-strong crowd at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, sustained their confidence even after the disheartening first half, giving a powerful rendition of the club's anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone".
Supporters without tickets watched from bars in the Beyoglu district near Taksim Square, scene of the all-night party.
Thousands squeezed into Beyoglu's narrow side streets, hoisting red-and-white banners and swaying to the Queen ballad "We Are the Champions."
The peaceful atmosphere stood in contrast to street battles in Istanbul in 2000, when two Leeds United fans were stabbed to death ahead of a UEFA Cup match against Istanbul's Galatasaray.
Police kept a large presence, but reported no clashes. "The English drink a lot, but we respect their traditions," one said.
(Reuters)

Thor Zakariassen ©