“I couldn’t believe it then and I still can’t believe it now!”
Jamie Carragher laughs as he recalls Liverpool winning the 2005 Champions League final against AC Milan in Istanbul.
Reflecting on a final for the ages, Carragher told BBC Radio Merseyside what it was like to be part of the team that came back from three goals down to beat the Italian giants on penalties.
“We were a defensively strong team but after conceding a goal in the first minute the game plan goes out of the window,” he said. “I don’t think the team Rafael Benitez selected helped with that because we were far too open. He tried to put more offensive players on the pitch but that blew up in our face.
“Coming off at half-time, I remember thinking ‘I don’t want this to be five or six nil. I had no thought in my head that we could come back from it and lift the trophy. I don’t think anyone in the dressing room did.
“What we wanted to do was stop it from being embarrassing and remembering this final for all of the wrong reasons.
“Most of us were shocked by what happened in the first-half and I don’t remember us screaming or shouting at each other. I think we just knew what we were up against and that they had been too good for us.
“After Steven Gerrard scored we thought ‘well the score line doesn’t look too bad now,’ but when it went to 3-2 you could sense the feeling was changing. AC Milan fans were getting more nervous and I felt like we could get the third goal because the momentum was with us.
“You could feel the energy in the crowd to go forward again and then Xabi Alonso scored.
“We hung on in extra-time. I had cramp and we were all getting tired, but we knew what was at stake and penalties would be a lottery.
“I can picture the lads’ faces when we won and we were running from the line. I couldn’t believe it then and I still can’t believe it now!
“Everyone was just in sheer disbelief. I was very lucky to be part of it.”
Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds
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