The Sporting Day: Champions League Final

The scene: the unlikely Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey.

The date: nearly two years to the day, May 23 2005.

The event: perhaps the greatest Champions League game ever played with legitimate claims to the greatest football final of all time. Certainly no football final has ever had the stomach-churning drama before or since.

Pitted against each other that warm Turkish evening were dominant favourites and perennial Serie A heavyweights AC Milan and fairytale outfit and a team that has not won an English Premiership since the establishment of the Premier League Liverpool. Milan were expected to win and win well. Liverpool had a good run but they would be found out. Not much changed these views when soon after kick off- 52 seconds to be precise- Paolo Maldini slotted the fastest goal in the history of Champions League finals. Two more first half goals to Milan and the game was essentially over. Bookies certainly thought so, offering 350/1 on the Scousers.

It wasn’t quite over, however.

The Liverpool Football Club dug deep. They freed up their game and miraculously staged one of the most fabled comebacks in the history of football. In a six minute period, Liverpool had squared the game up. Goals to Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard in the 54th minute, Vladimir Smicer in the 56th and Xabi Alonso in the 60th, who scored from the spot, and the scores were tied. The air was filled with tension so heavy it was difficult to breathe.

Over the thirty remaining minutes of regular time, the tension escalated as each scoreless minute ticked by. And over the thirty minutes of extra-time, the atmosphere was similar. The greatest game went down to penalties and like all penalty shoot-outs; there are heroes (who tend to be forgotten) and there are villains (who remain same for a lifetime). The hero was Liverpool keeper Jerzy Dudek, the villains the three Milan players who missed including Andrei Shevchenko, who sealed the fate of AC Milan.

Liverpool had won and claimed their fifth European Cup, capping a remarkable comeback.

And remarkably, the same two teams again meet on neutral territory to again fight out the final of the premier competition in world football. Liverpool, again disappointing domestically, have lifted when playing Europe. A.C Milan, who had the ignominy of being caught up in the referee selection scandal, started the season being deducted points and could only manage fourth. So for both teams, this match is their season.

Liverpool will be out to prove they were worthy of the title two years ago and that they are worthy of it again. They will be looking to add another chapter to their storied history while re-living past glories. AC Milan will be singularly focused on revenge and atonement for two years ago.

Milan are favourites and deservedly so. They have been better than Liverpool this season, domestically and in Europe. And they have that great intangible driving them; revenge. So take the boys who play for Silvio Berlusconi and tune in for what will be a thrilling contest.

© 2007 Jack Stockton