TODAY they will find a permanent resting place for the European Cup at Anfield. Last night they somehow made room in the pantheon of Liverpool managerial legends for Rafael Benitez.
Defying the odds has been the script of Liverpool's Champions League campaign, yet the story of how Steven Gerrard came to get his hands on the club's fairytale fifth continental crown defies belief.
Three goals down and outclassed by a rampant AC Milan they were down and out after 45 minutes in Istanbul. Saving face was their only aim for the second half. Only their remarkable strength of character - that allowed Jerzy Dudek to write his name in Anfield folklore in possibly his last game for the club - and Benitez himself explain what happened next.
The confidence that radiates from this Liverpool manager has never wavered in the face of this season's trials, although it was a superhuman effort that sustained him last night.
Weaker men would have buckled and thrown blame around the Liverpool dressing room.
Instead, Benitez produced another of his famed tactical switches, Liverpool produced the most astonishing comeback in cup final history, and 75 minutes and a successful penalty shoot-out later, he had delivered the trophy upon which the club's reputation was built.
He has made his people happy once again. To many, the substitution of Dietmar Hamann against Bayer Leverkusen was the beginning of the end of real hope under Gerard Houllier. How ironic then that the half-time arrival of the German, another who may have made his final appearance for the club, swung Liverpool back into this final and into a glorious new era last night.
There was no inkling of the triumph to come as Liverpool made the worst possible start.
Having caught Juventus and Chelsea cold at Anfield to reach the final Liverpool were caught at their own game when Paolo Maldini scooped Andrea Pirlo's clever free-kick beyond Dudek after only 49 seconds.
Despite pre-match assertions to the contrary Liverpool were over-awed by the occasion and betrayed by their nerves in the beginning. Milan, too good to decline invitations, revelled in the space allowed.
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