The tale of what happened at half-time in the 2005 Champions League final is still clouded in a compound of fact and fiction. Now, Liverpool’s Sami Hyypia has offered This Is Anfield an insight into Rafa Benitez’s team talk in Istanbul.
He may not be recognised among the greats by those outside of Liverpool, but true Reds know just how brilliant Hyypia was across his 10 years at the club.
From his 464 appearances for the club, two nights stand out as those he can look back on as a retired player and recollect with amazing accuracy.
“I think all the professional players dream about winning the Champions League at least once in their career,” Hyypia told This Is Anfield.
The Finn achieved this in 2005, of course, when Liverpool beat AC Milan on penalties at the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul.
Hyypia continued: “Now everyone realised that we had won, it was a great feeling and, yeah, we are in the history books for winning it.
“I think many of the football fans, not Liverpool or AC Milan fans, will remember that final because it was a crazy final – I wouldn’t think that there will be a final like that again.”
As Liverpudlians, we know the story of how our team came from 3-0 down to beat the best in the world.
What has remained more of a mystery, however, is what happened at half-time to instigate the turnaround.
Those 15 minutes
Hyypia attempted to explain the night’s events, saying: “I don’t really know what I was thinking.
“I think the first half was so bad from us; they scored their goals pretty well that day. They studied how we play and the first goal was a set-piece, so they had planned what they were going to do.”
With Liverpool three goals down at half-time, the supporters broke into a legendary rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone while the players were in the changing rooms.
Hyypia recalled: “It was very sad after the first half but when we went to the dressing room, I think it was so silent that we actually could hear the crowd singing You’ll Never Walk Alone.
“So probably that gave us the glimmer of hope, you know, or we decided that we give something back to the fans – they are supporting us and many of you guys had travelled a long way to come to support us.”
While the supporters helped, Liverpool had to turn that energy into a better performance on the pitch.
Manager Rafa Benitez could have decided to give a rollicking to the Reds at the break, but Hyypia explained how he opted for another approach.
“Rafa was actually quite calm when he was talking to us,” said the centre-back.
“Some other managers would have shouted their lungs off to the team when the team performs that way, like we did in the first half.
“But he was quite calm. And he said, ‘we need to give the fans something to cheer about’.
“And yeah, we managed to do it!
“I think that night showed me that people always talk about how you have to believe in something for it to happen, but that night showed that I don’t think anyone believed when we came out of in the second half that we would come back and win it.
“So if you put the effort in, even if you don’t believe in something to happen, just put the effort in and it can happen.”
A different type of win
Winning the Champions League in 2005 was, of course, a highlight but before that, Hyypia had already claimed a European trophy, winning the UEFA Cup in 2001.
Four days after Michael Owen’s late brace won Liverpool the FA Cup against Arsenal, Gerard Houllier’s side travelled to Dortmund where they faced Alaves.
A quite incredible final ensued with the Reds eventually winning 5-4 thanks to an own goal from Alaves’ Delfi Geli.
What made this an even more unusual ending – for younger fans retrospectively at least – is the fact this game was won by a golden goal, meaning that as Geli’s extra-time header hit his own net, Liverpool became winners.
When asked about his feelings in 2005 when Jerzy Dudek saved Andriy Shevchenko’s penalty, Hyypia brought up the contrast in how it felt four years earlier in Dortmund.
Liverpool’s former No. 4 said: “I think in 2001 against Alaves, when it was a golden goal, I think that half of the team didn’t realise that we won it actually!”
Looking back at footage of the game, Liverpool’s players do celebrate the goal but a couple turn away almost as if to retreat back to their own half.
They soon realised they had completed a treble of trophies, though, and Hyypia enjoyed lifting the trophy with co-captain Robbie Fowler.
Having been made to hand over the captaincy to Steven Gerrard in 2003, Hyypia wasn’t the first to lift the European Cup in Istanbul.
However, this didn’t diminish from his jubilation at winning football’s biggest crown.
These were just two nights in a fantastic Liverpool career for Hyppia, who surely sits among Liverpool’s greatest-ever defenders.
