Liverpool's captain, Steven Gerrard, holds the trophy in front of his teammates, covered by confetti after winning the Champions League final against AC Milan at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium yesterday. - REUTERS
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP):
LIVERPOOL OVERCAME a three-goal half-time deficit to win their first European Cup title in 21 years, beating AC Milan 3-2 on penalties after a 3-3 draw in the Champions League final.
Andriy Shevchenko, whose shootout spot kick clinched Milan's sixth title two years ago, failed this time, giving the English team the title in a match that started on Wednesday and finished in the early minutes of Thursday morning.
In the highest scoring final since Benfica beat Real Madrid 5-3 in 1962, Liverpool became the first team to win the trophy after trailing 3-0.
It was Liverpool's fifth title, meaning they will be able to keep the trophy for good. But it may not be enough to get the team into next year's competition Liverpool finished in fifth place in the English Premier League, and only the top four gain berths for the next tournament.
Paolo Maldini, who was chasing his fifth title, gave Milan the lead in the 50th Champions Cup final after just 52 seconds and Hernan Crespo added two more goals before halftime. Maldini, who is 36, is the oldest scorer in a Champions League final.
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But three goals in seven minutes by Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, Vladimir Smicer and Xabi Alonso made it 3-3.
The match then went to a shootout and Liverpool, who also won their last title on penalties in 1984, did it again.
"Three-0 down at halftime I thought I was going to be in tears at the final whistle," Gerrard said. "I'm finding it hard to talk. It's hard to sum up how good I'm feeling at the moment I'm just on top of the world."
Milan's Serginho and Andrea Pirlo both missed and Liverpool went ahead 2-0 through Dietmar Hamann and Djibril Cisse. Milan levelled when John Arne Riise missed and Jon Dahl Tomasson and Kaka scored for Milan, but Smicer made his shot and Shevchenko's spot kick was saved by Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek.
"We played a good match. We had six minutes of craziness," Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said. "It was something which can't be explained. It's not the moment of regrets. We are sorry, embittered, but this is soccer."
A few minutes before the shootout, the Polish 'keeper made two stunning saves to foil the Ukrainian at the end of extra time.
"I don't think anyone has seen a game like that. I cannot believe we've just won. People will be talking about that game in 20 or 30 years," Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said.
