The imposing Atatürk Olympic Stadium was not the most conventional setting for a miracle. Commissioned in aid of Turkey’s ultimately unsuccessful bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games, the venue had long seemed destined never to fulfill its potential. But on a scorching Istanbul night on May 25, 2005, the ground played host to one of the most memorable matches the sport has seen as Liverpool mounted an inconceivable comeback in the UEFA Champions League final against AC Milan.
Before a ball was even kicked at the Atatürk, it was a contest Liverpool had no right to win. Rafael Benitez’s side was, on paper, no match for Carlo Ancelotti’s squad of superstars. Milan had won the Champions League just two years earlier, while Liverpool hadn’t even made it to the final since 1984. Milan had lifted the Serie A title in 2004; Liverpool hadn’t been domestic champions since 1990.
When veteran captain Paolo Maldini volleyed home the opener after a minute, and Hernan Crespo then scored a quick brace to put Milan 3-0 up before the break, it looked for all the world that the trophy would be heading to the San Siro.
The series of events that followed would defy all reason and logic, but somehow, it was Liverpool who ended the night as European champions, with captain Steven Gerrard hoisting the cup in front of more than 20,000 traveling fans.
Twenty years on, ESPN has spoken to Benitez, Liverpool winger Luis Garcia (now an ESPN pundit) and fans who made the 1,700-mile journey to Turkey to tell the story of the day, which will be forever known as “The Miracle of Istanbul.”
