Jaap Stam has set the record straight once and for all on what went on inside the AC Milan dressing room at half-time during Liverpool’s famous Champions League final victory in Istanbul in 2005.
Goals from Paolo Maldini and a Hernan Crespo brace had seen Carlo Ancelotti ’s side race into an emphatic 3-0 lead at the Ataturk Stadium. However, three goals in six second half minutes from Steven Gerrard, Vladimir Smicer and Xabi Alonso saw the Reds pull off the most unlikely of comebacks, before going on to clinch their fifth European Cup win on penalties.
Former Manchester United defender Stam was part of star-studded Milan squad that day and lined up in defence alongside Cafu, Alessandro Nesta and Maldini, with the likes of Clarence Seedorf, Andrea Pirlo, Kaka and Andriy Shevchenko also starting for Il Rossoneri.
