Liverpool's 3–0 half-time deficit recovery to win on penalties made this final widely considered one of the greatest in UEFA Champions League history.
Key Facts
- Half-time score
- Milan 3–0 Liverpool
- Final score (after extra time)
- 3–3
- Penalty shoot-out result
- Liverpool 3–2 Milan
- Liverpool's European Cup wins
- 5 (awarded trophy permanently)
- Second-half comeback duration
- Goals scored in six-minute spell
- Venue
- Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Both Milan and Liverpool progressed through the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League group stages and knockout rounds, each playing 12 matches. Milan, six-time winners and favourites, entered the final having topped their group ahead of Barcelona. Liverpool, appearing in their first final since 1985, finished second in their group and eliminated Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, and Chelsea.
On 25 May 2005 at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Milan took a 3–0 lead by half-time through Paolo Maldini and two goals from Hernán Crespo. Liverpool responded with three goals in six second-half minutes from Steven Gerrard, Vladimír Šmicer, and Xabi Alonso to level at 3–3. After extra time, Liverpool won the penalty shoot-out 3–2 when Jerzy Dudek saved Andriy Shevchenko's decisive kick.
Liverpool claimed their fifth European Cup, entitling them to permanent possession of the trophy and the right to wear a multiple-winner badge. The match became known as the Miracle of Istanbul and is widely regarded as one of the greatest finals in the tournament's history, cementing its place in football folklore.