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Former AC Milan defender Alessandro Nesta has once again spoken about his side’s loss to Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League final in 2005.

That ‘Night in Istanbul’ was arguably Liverpool’s greatest night in their long history in European football, as the Reds came from three goals down in the first half to win a star-studded AC Milan side on penalties.

Milan were easily the best team in the world when they faced Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool side, who were struggling domestically but had developed a knack for doing well in Europe.

The Reds were appearing in their sixth final, and their first since 1985.

They had defeated Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus and Chelsea to progress to the final.

Meanwhile, Milan, who had won the competition six times, were appearing in their second final in three years and tenth overall.

The Serie A side, who were coached back then by Carlo Ancelotti and had star names like Dida, Cafu, Andriy Shevchenko, Kaka, Andrea Pirlo, Paulo Maldini, Jaap Stam, Alessandro Nesta, Hernan Crespo, and Clarence Seedorf, took the lead in the first minute through Maldini.

They went three up inside the first half, with a brace from Hernan Crespo, leaving an injury-troubled Liverpool team with a mountain to climb.

However, with a sheer force of will and determination, the Reds claimed the mountain, scaled it and came out victorious, with Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Vladmir Šmicer scoring in six second-half minutes to force the game into extra time and penalties.

Liverpool eventually won on penalties thanks to Jerzy Dudek’s heroics between the posts.

Liverpool’s iconic captain, Steven Gerrard, was duly named the Man of the Match for his performance on the night, which saw him play across multiple positions.

Twenty years after that match, stories about the ‘Miracle of Istanbul’ continue to be told.

One of the men who was part of the Milan squad that suffered that defeat has come to debunk one of such tales, insisting that, contrary to popular saying, the Rossoneri were not celebrating being 3-0 up at halftime.

Alessandro Nesta played the entire match and insists that Milan players knew that, despite being ahead, they had a long way to go.

The defender also name-checked Steven Gerrard for praise, calling the former captain ‘an animal’ for his contribution that night.

“It’s not true that we were celebrating in the locker room at half-time, Nesta told former Italy teammate Luca Toni on Amazon Prime Video Italia.

“It was actually quite tense.

We knew there was a long way to go.”

“Steven Gerrard kept Liverpool afloat, he was an animal back then, he was everywhere.”

Asked what happened after the defeat in Istanbul, Nesta said:

“Nobody talked in the locker room, nobody dared.

We just had to get over it.”

Milan eventually got their revenge by beating Liverpool 2-1 in Athens for the 2007 Champions League Final.

Speaking about the game, Nesta admitted his side were worse than the 20025 final.

“That was destiny, we were convinced that we would win, because we couldn’t not win again,” the ex-Italy man added.

“We actually played worse than the final we lost, but we were more solid and had that belief, right from the start.

“Pippo Inzaghi could barely stand due to muscular problems, Alberto Gilardino was in incredible form, but the coach had this intuition that gets you to win the Champions League.
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