Liverpool won the 2005 UEFA Champions League final after being 3–0 down to Milan. The comeback, completed in Istanbul on 25 May 2005, is widely known as the Miracle of Istanbul.
Milan appeared to have the match under control at half-time. Paolo Maldini scored in the opening minute, and Hernán Crespo added two more goals before the interval. Liverpool’s response came after the break, when Steven Gerrard, Vladimír Šmicer and Xabi Alonso scored three times in a remarkable six-minute spell.
The match stayed 3–3 through extra time, so the champions were decided by a penalty shoot-out. Liverpool won 3–2 after goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek saved Andriy Shevchenko’s final Milan penalty. The victory gave Liverpool their fifth European Cup.
The result is sometimes confused with Liverpool’s 2007 defeat by Milan in Athens. That was a different final: Milan won 2–1. The famous 3–0 comeback belongs to Liverpool’s 2005 triumph in Istanbul.