‘We are in heaven now’

Liverpool produced an incredible comeback to win the Champions League on penalties in one of the most remarkable finals of all time on Wedne...

Liverpool produced an incredible comeback to win the Champions League on penalties in one of the most remarkable finals of all time on Wednesday.

Trailing 3-0 after a first half dominated by Milan, the English club scored three times in six minutes early in the second half to take the match into extra time and eventually a penalty shootout which they won 3-2.

A huge travelling support of over 40,000 Liverpool fans rolled around the stands in delight after captain Steven Gerrard raised the European Cup, which the club will now keep after their fifth victory in the competition.

However, it remains to be seen whether they can defend it next season as, under current competition rules, they are not eligible to do so because they finished fifth in the Premier League and missed out on a qualifying berth. Champions do not get automatic right of entry to the competition the following season.

‘‘We are in heaven now’’, said goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, the hero of the penalty shootout. ‘‘It was difficult to come back from 3-0 down but we did it. This is our night and for all the people who came here to support us, it was fantastic.’’

The Pole said his constant movement before the penalties was a leaf out of Bruce Grobbelaar’s book when he steered Liverpool to a penalty shootout win over another Italian team, AS Roma, in the 1984 European Cup final.

‘‘It was a strange match, really strange’’, Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said. ‘‘We had played well but we had six minutes of madness that changed the course of things.’’

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The turnaround surpassed two other famous fightbacks which highlighted the romance and appeal of the European Cup. The first was in the opening final in Paris in 1956 when Reims rushed into a 2-0 lead over Real Madrid inside the opening 10 minutes before losing 4-3 to become Real’s first victims.

The only other match which involved a team winning after trailing by two goals took place in Amsterdam in 1962 — Real lost 5-3 after twice leading against Benfica.

While Milan were pilloried by the media back home for their collapse, Liverpool were hailed. Prime Minister Tony Blair sent the team a message of congratulations. ‘‘Unbelievable. Incredible. Brilliant. The whole country is very proud of you.’’

THE MATCH FACTS

Liverpool 3, AC Milan 3
(Liverpool won 3-2 on penalties)

SCORERS

Liverpool: Gerrard 54, Smicer 56,
Alonso 60
Milan: Maldini 1, Crespo 39, 44
Penalties
Liverpool scorers: Hamann, Cisse, Smicer;
Missed: Riise
Milan scorers: Tomasson, Kaka
Missed: Serginho, Pirlo
Man of the match: Gerrard