If you utter the words ‘Miracle of Istanbul’ to a football fan, they instantly know what you are on about. Even those who were born after the fateful day in 2005, when Liverpool made history at the Ataturk Stadium, will be able to recite what happened.
Those famous six minutes. The six minutes of madness that turned The Reds’ Champions League final with AC Milan into an all-time classic. The six minutes are the only reason I am sitting down and writing this article.
We all know the story. At 8.30pm on May 26, 2005, Liverpool’s dreams of a fifth European Cup had seemingly been crushed. It was seemingly all over, well, until it wasn’t. Three goals in six second-half minutes changed everything, and you know the rest. You still may not believe it, but you know it happened.
It’s always about those six minutes, or that Jerzy Dudek double save, or the fact that the Pole waltzed about three metres off his line for every single spot-kick in the penalty shootout.
But the ‘Miracle in Istanbul’ isn’t just about one night; it's about the magical route there. As John Arne Riise, who started the final, tells Mail Sport, ‘The road to Istanbul was most remarkable.’
20 years on, TNT Sports’ one-hour-long documentary, which is set to premiere at 21:45 on Sunday 25 May, takes you through the highs and lows of Liverpool’s journey to that meeting with Milan.
Now, as I said, you’ve all seen this story a thousand times. Search ‘Miracle of Istanbul’ and hundreds of videos about that momentous occasion come up. Each one tries to find a new angle, but most fail.
That’s the thing, it's hard to find a new angle on a story that everybody knows about. So, how could this story be told in a new light? How can you get an audience hooked? How can you tap into the memories of the Liverpool fans in a different way?
TNT Sports have had a fairly good crack at it. The documentary takes you right back to the start of the 2004-05 season and all the way to the final. In fact, the final doesn’t even take up half of the watch time.
You relive everything from that Steven Gerrard winner against Olympiacos in the group stage, to Luis Garcia’s ghost goal in the semi-final against Chelsea. It’s all about the journey.
If you are a Liverpool fan, you are going to love it. For those who were alive in 2005, this documentary will take you right back to the glory days.
For football fans of rival teams, though, it's probably not for you - it’s not meant to be. It’s meant to allow Reds supporters to tap into their memory banks and reminisce with memories that have been forgotten in the past 20 years.
The documentary is nostalgia on steroids, and anybody in connection with Liverpool will want the juice.
In the current era, where documentaries need to have fly-on-the-wall footage, and everything requires behind-the-scenes clips to make them groundbreaking, this is a throwback to good old storytelling.
Rafael Benitez, Steve McManaman, Gerrard, Riise, Dudek, and Vladimir Smicer all take you through their own experiences of that season in the Champions League. They give you an insight into what was running through their minds at the time.
Whether that be Riise’s regret of going against ‘who I am’, or Gerrard still not being able to believe what happened. It taps into all the emotions of the rollercoaster that season was.
Arguably, the most thrilling part of the ride was the famous semi-final second leg against Chelsea. Yep, the ghost goal one.
Over the last 20 years, Anfield has had many special nights, whether that be the miraculous 4-0 win over Barcelona or the stunning comeback against Borussia Dortmund back in 2016, but that night against Jose Mourinho’s all-conquering Chelsea side will always stand out.
‘What I remember from that game, when it comes to atmosphere, was when the fourth official put up six minutes of injury time, that’s when Anfield just lifted. It was unbelievable,’ Riise continues.
‘That atmosphere was the best atmosphere I have ever played in.’
Every player and fan who talks in the documentary recalls it in the same way, and the archived footage backs it up beautifully.
It shows the roar after Garcia’s goal, and even though you are watching it on television, your eardrums could still burst. I advise you to turn the volume down when you get to that part.
And this section of the documentary shows what TNT have done so well - they let the footage do the talking. The outpouring of emotion will funnel through the screen and into Liverpool fans’ hearts as they relive what truly was a one-of-a-kind European Cup triumph.
The Miracle of Istanbul: Liverpool 2005 premieres on TNT Sports 1 and discovery+ on Sunday 25 May at 21:45.
