What he never foresaw was the homing device triggered by 35,000 Liverpool fans in the Ataturk Stadium who inspired their side to transform the most humiliating night in their history to the most triumphant.
The European Cup didn't fancy Paolo. She wanted Steven but it took a series of remarkable chat-up lines from the Liverpool manager to ensure his skipper got his wicked way.
The only reason Liverpool weren't fatally wounded by a first half blitz is the fortunate fact immortals can't be destroyed.
Gerrard and company have rewritten football "possibilities" throughout this campaign but even the heroic efforts of Olympiakos, Juventus and Chelsea were rendered insignificant compared to this.
It shouldn't have happened. Some of us aren't convinced it did. Only the pinch marks confirm it. We thought it was all over. It wasn't.
Liverpool fans faced a sickening dilemma. What do you do when your side is 3-0 down in the Champions League final to a side superior in every position?
Praying was one option. Another, which was rather attractive at half time last night, was to grab the nearest taxi back to Taksin Square and drink the night away trying to forget the embarrassment they had just suffered.
