Jerzy Dudek – Not one for emotion, Rafa Benitez signed Dudek’s replacement in the summer after the famous European victory. It was the right move too; Pepe Reina turned into one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
Dudek’s heroics in Istanbul will go down in folklore. The unbelievable double save from Andriy Shevchenko, the wobbly legs, Pirlo penalty save and of course the Shevchenko penalty save. Things we’ll never forget.
Dudek played second fiddle to Reina in the 2006/07 season before moving to Real Madrid to be the understudy to Iker Casillas. He stayed in that role for four seasons, making just 15 appearances.
Steve Finnan – Panic over, we’ve found him! The bizarre storyline saw Steve Finnan ‘lost’ and quite simply, nobody could locate him. Now working in property development and living in London, Finnan was a regular in the 04-05 season and made 145 Red’s appearances.
The Republic of Ireland international was substituted at half time that night through injury and after spells at Espanyol and Portsmouth, he retired in 2010.
Sami Hyypia – Sami was a hero at Anfield and always will be. Once captain of the side, he passed the armband onto Steven Gerrard in 2003 before forming a partnership with Jamie Carragher that helped the Reds lift the trophy in Istanbul.
Hyypia remained at Liverpool until 2009 where he received an almighty send-off, scoring more important goals and offering some tremendous defensive displays along the way. After 318 appearances, he spent two years at Bayer Leverkusen before retiring in 2011.
Sami has spent some time on the touchline too, firstly at Leverkusen and then at Brighton Hove Albion. Who knows what the future holds for the big Finn.
Jamie Carragher – Jamie’s on the tele. That’s where he went! Throughout the latter part of Carragher’s career, most thought it was a certainty that he’d go into management.
It seemed logical that Carrageher, renowned for his encyclopaedic knowledge of football, would go from on field general to the man in the dugout.
However, he chose another path and became a pundit on Sky TV. He’s done a good job at it too.
Djimi Traore – The unsung hero (ever so slightly). Remember that crunching tackle in the semi final against Chelsea? Remember the goal line clearance in Istanbul with the scores level at 3-3?
After receiving his medal, Traore found LFC starts hard to come by and moved to Charlton in 2006, where he was sent off on his debut. He then endured spells at Birmingham, AS Monaco and Lyon, before arriving at Seattle Sounders. He retired at the end of last season.
John Arne Riise – You could seriously argue that we still have not replaced Riise. With 234 appearances and the delivery for that Gerrard header to reignite all the hope; Riise was a luxury. We loved a Riise screamer and weren’t there many of them. The Norwegian moved on to AS Roma in the summer of 2008 and then back to England with Fulham in 2011.
Now in the Cypriot league, Riise recently smashed in a free kick from 30 metres to help his side APOEL win the Cypriot Cup. Some things never change.
Xabi Alonso – It seems Xabi will always have a soft spot for the reds, and we will always remember him. The third and fnal scorer that night who went on to become one of the best central midfielders in the world, Alonso played out a few more seasons at Anfield before signing for Real Madrid in August 2009 for £30m.
Alonso won two Copa Del Rey cups, a La Liga title and another UEFA Champions League winner’s medal, despite unfortunately missing out on the final against rivals Atletico last season due to suspension. Now at Bayern Munich, he has won the Bundesliga title and often seen adopting a role as one of three centre halves in Pep Guardiola’s side. The man still hasn’t lost his class, and we often wonder if he ever will.
Steven Gerrard – The last crusader. Of all the men who featured on that famous night in Istanbul, fittingly it was the captain who was the last one left. Gerrard was magnificent that night. He’s been magnificent many more times too.
He’s played his last game in a Liverpool shirt now, and he’s off to Los Angeles. The Crystal Palace game at Anfield felt like end of an era for us all. Let’s hope we see more Liverpool players reach the heights that the captain did.
Harry Kewell – Kewell was a strange one. Maybe the Champions League winning year wasn’t his most memorable of seasons in a Red shirt, as the Australian was substituted early in the first half in Istanbul due to injury, yet he put in some excellent performances the following year and scored important goals against Tottenham and Everton at Anfield, as well as playing an integral role in the 2006 FA Cup Semi Final win over Chelsea.
After 93 LFC apps, a few years with Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart, plus just under 6 months in Qatar, Kewell retired in March 2014.
Luis Garcia – Luis Garcia drinks Sangria and came from Barcelona to Liverpool in summer 2004. At just 5’7, he really was football heaven and an absolute fan favourite. The man who scored the goal to take us to Istanbul as well as that wonder strike against Juventus in the Quarter-Final, he was a vital player in the 2005 UCL campaign, scoring goals and showing the grit and determination that was clearly needed to lift the trophy.
Garcia ultimately scored the decider in another Semi Final against Chelsea a year later, this time in the FA Cup, and continued to pop up with goals for Rafa Benitez including a late winner against Arsenal in 2007. After returning to Spain with Atletico and Racing Santander and enjoying spells with sides in Greece, Mexico and India, he retired early in 2014.
Milan Baros – After leaving Euro 2004 as top goalscorer, Baros’ season was always going to be a good one. The Czech scored goals for fun including a memorable hat-trick against Crystal Palace ending up as joint top-scorer and played 85 minutes in Istanbul.
Baros later played for Aston Villa, Lyon, Portsmouth, Galatasaray and Czech side Ostrava, before moving to Turkish side Antalyaspor and back to Ostrava. His side sit 12th with two games to go.
Vladimir Smicer – The Czech’s 20 yard strike that beat Dida and made the score 3-2 will forever live in the memory of Liverpool supporters worldwide. The man who was brought on for the injured Harry Kewell in the first half also scored in the shootout to help the Reds record their 5th UCL success in his final Liverpool game.
After spells with Bordeaux and Slavia Prague, the man whose game time was heavily impacted by injury forced an end to his career in November 2009.
Didi Hamman – Hamman’s took and scored the first penalty in the shoot-out in Istanbul with a broken foot. Does anything scream heroic more than that?
The German came on at half time for Steve Finnan and was vital in rejuvenating the Liverpool side ready for a comeback, which they successfully completed. He was also in the squad that won the FA Cup 12 months later.
Since retirement, Dietmar Hamman has appeared as a guest pundit on BBC Match of the Day 2, he’s often seen with Sky Sports Football Coverage and Commentary team and regularly appears on LFC TV.
Djibril Cisse – After the horrific leg break at Ewood Park at the start of the season, Cisse’s first year on Merseyside was cut short. He recovered in time to make the bench and came on in Istanbul as a substitute, whilst the Frenchman also emphatically scored the second penalty in the shoot-out.
Cisse was the star in the Super Cup win over CSKA Moscow with two goals in a 3-1 win, and he scored at the Millennium Stadium in the FA Cup final against West Ham a year later too.
Cisse joined Marseille in 2006 after another leg break on international duty, before returning to England on loan with Sunderland. He then played for Panathinaikos, Lazio and Kuban Krasnodar, as well as a year at QPR, where he scored against the Reds. He currently plays for Bastia.
