[lfc-news] Bold Liverpool rise from the ashes - Telegraph

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Daily Telegraph, 26 May 2005
Bold Liverpool rise from the ashes
By Paul Hayward

The phoenix should be Liverpool's new emblem. After conceding the
fastest goal in the history of European Cup finals, the club who
dominated football on the continent in the late 1970s and early 1980s
rose and took flight with victory after one of the most spectacular
comebacks ever to grace this great competition.

The line Rafa Benitez's men walked here last night was between
humiliation and resurrection. Three second-half goals inside five
minutes are sufficient for us to conclude that the Anfield tradition has
been saved from the grave. It's one thing to plot and scuff your way to
a final before being subjugated by a superior opponent. But Liverpool's
refusal to yield to the Milan of Paolo Maldini, Andrei Shevchenko and
Kaka came from the heart. It will be the base on which Benitez builds a
new Liverpool next season. A Liverpool who surely ought to be capable of
roughing up Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United.

Like the FA Cup final, this was a game of brutal tension. The surest
evidence that reality had invaded the pitch seemed to come when some
Liverpool supporters began weeping through the half-time interval. Those
crimson tears were washing away the ink on a new page in the club's
illustrious history. Those who shed them have learned a lesson for life:
never despair.

Milan were already 3-0 up by the time Benitez's men found sanctuary in
the dressing room, so maybe the pessimism was understandable. It was
time, though, to remember that the Premiership's fifth best team had
already knocked out the champions of Italy and England en route to this
final. They are masters of the improbable.

When Liverpool crept past Chelsea to reach their first European Cup
final for 20 years, Anfield regulars imagined an exotic destination
bathed in hot Turkish sun. Instead, they encountered thick cloud and
biting wind at a white elephant of a ground that sits in a lunar
landscape, surrounded by impoverished neighbourhoods. Nothing on this
crazy, tumultuous night followed a script.

Down town, the T-shirts spoke of the club's renewed self-confidence.
'Rafa's Red Revolution', boasted one. On another, Jamie Carragher's face
stared out beneath the headline: 'Carradona'. Even Carragher, the
classic local hero, would have been surprised to see himself being
compared to the great Maradona. But every Liverpool fan you spoke to was
full of the old opiate of European success. Not even the long journey
and choking traffic could dampen their spirits as they shivered and
waited for the battle to commence.

Cunning, defensive solidity and the odd lightning raid had taken them
past Chelsea and Juventus. Now, though, a tactical dilemma confronted
Benitez. Excessive caution might prove fatal against a Milan team who
can beat most opponents at chess. PSV Eindhoven's audacious attempt to
overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit in their semi-final had almost come
off. Back home the Dutch had unleashed a whirlwind against Milan's
ageing defence and had taken the game 3-1. The Italians needed Marco
Ambrosini's away goal to see them through.

Was this the magic formula for Liverpool to win their fifth European
Cup? Benitez thought so, if the surprising inclusion of Harry Kewell at
the expense of Dietmar Hamann was any guide. That bold attacking policy
was undone inside 20 minutes when Kewell, the antithesis of the Aussie
hard man, began limping theatrically and was booed off the pitch by
Liverpool's followers. As Vladimir Smicer took his place, Kaka began
ripping through the Liverpool midfield with the ball at his feet and
Shevchenko and Crespo pulled left and right to stretch the Anfield
club's previously impervious defence.

While Kaka tormented Xabi Alonso, who was over-run in the midfield
anchor position, Shevchenko went to work on the left-back, Djimi Traore,
who found out why this Ukrainian marksman is arguably the world's best
centre-forward. Shevchenko was a phantom ghosting behind Traore and
drilling the ball in from the inside-right position. With Crespo cutting
in from the other flank, the authority established by Carragher and Sami
Hyypia against Juventus and Chelsea was smashed.

By half-time, Kaka slicing through the middle to supply the two Milan
strikers was proving a lethal formula. As the tears rolled, there was
the temptation to look away in sympathy and embarrassment. The
post-mortems would say that Liverpool had no business being in a
Champions League final when they have travelled for 15 years without
winning their domestic league. No business, when they're not even the
leading team in Liverpool. It was going to be hindsight time.
Told-you-all-along time.

Except that Liverpool summoned from way down inside the spirit that has
stopped Anfield sliding into the Mersey these past 15 years. This
sudden, defiant urge may have stemmed from the fear of humiliation. They
were like a bloodied prize-fighter who fears the indignity of being
taken apart in front of his family and friends. First one, then two,
then three counter-punches put the Italian bully on the floor. Delirium
swept through the red hordes, who had annexed at least half of this
distant, soul-less stadium.

Emotion was only part of it. The tactical key to Liverpool's revival was
the arrival of Hamann, that wily, gritty German, who plugged the gaps
around Alonso and provided fresh composure and confidence.

With six minutes left, the Liverpool fans were chanting 'ole, ole' as
their heroes stroked the ball around. Baros gave way to Djibril Cisse as
You'll Never Walk Alone rang round the ground.

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