Hello and welcome to Soccer 101. My name is Daryl Grove and I'm joined by a man who always turns it around at half time. His name is Taylor Rockwell. Hello. Hello, that's

right. So go to the halfway point of this episode and my performance will increase. I'm going to

dominate the first half. I'm just going to talk like this the whole time. We are here today to talk

about the 2005 Champions League final. In Istanbul, it was Liverpool 3, Milan 3. Milan took a 3-0 lead at halftime.

Liverpool turned it around and won on penalties.

It is also known as the miracle of Istanbul.

I think to Western audiences and soccer fans, it's the miracle of Istanbul.

I feel like maybe there's

been a couple different miracles of Istanbul throughout history. It's a city that's been around for a while. But yes, for the context of today's show, 2005, Miracle of Istanbul, 3-3, extra time, things get dramatic. They certainly do, right? If you haven't seen this game, don't worry, in the show notes you will find. I'm going to put highlights. I'm going to put the full game with match commentary.

I'm going to put highlights,

I'm going to put the full game with match commentary, I'm going to put the full game with no match

commentary, which I believe is the one we watched, right, Taylor? It is. And I'm also going to add a YouTube

video of Liverpool coach Raffa Benitez with Jamie Carriger, Liverpool Defender, talking

through the tactics of this game with a big digital chalkboard.

I have not yet watched that one, strangely enough, so I look forward to watching that.

I look forward to hearing about it. I did, as you said, watched the video with no commentary,

but it felt like what they had done is sort of giving you the actual crowd noise.

Like they removed the commentary and instead just kept the mics on the field. And it was amazing because it does give you a way better impression of how loud that stadium was. And there are moments. You can see in one point in the first half, Miel and Beres takes a shot and doesn't realize that I think it was Chabby Alonzo was running through to take the shot at the same time. And he turns and said, like, I couldn't hear you because it's that deafening. And that was the first thing that struck me so much so that even though I was watching it on a decent volume, I was asked by my wife upstairs to maybe just turn it down a little. It's Liverpool fans' fault. They were too loud. Now where. All right, let's talk. The reason I want to talk about this game is you've got a genuinely great Milan team and a great Milan team performance in the first half. I think this is really an opportunity to celebrate one of the great teams of history, but then you've got that great turnaround from Liverpool in the second half. And I want to start Taylor by essentially going through these lineups because I I think people need a reminder or need to know for the first time if you're newer to soccer, just who was on the field in this game. Let's do it. And let's start by utilizing a quote from Carlo Encelotti that I really enjoyed. Milan coach? Yes, when I think about that match, I think about a match in which my team played very well, perhaps even the best match that one of my teams has ever played. Then there's a pause. And then he says, I'm talking about the first half, of course. Because, yeah, it was an amazing first half. It was fairly comprehensive from Milan. And a big part of that is because that squad was ridiculous. And you look at the Liverpool team, there are some names in there that you definitely recognize.

There are some that you're like, oh, right, yeah, Liverpool, I forgot. And then you look at that Milan team, and every single one of them is recognizable and still well known today. So here's my argument. It's not just an incredible comeback from Liverpool. It's kind of an underdog victory when you look at these names. So get ready for these names. In goal for Milan, it's Brazil's goalkeeper, Dida.

And maybe the least impressive name in the entire squad right there.

Yeah, maybe, yeah. Their right back is Khufu, the just incredible Brazilian freight train of a right

back. Centerbacks are Yap Stam and Alessandro Nesta. The left back is the great Paulo Maldini,

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