On May 25, 2005, Liverpool Football Club and AC Milan faced off in the UEFA Champions League final at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. The match, which has since become known as the "Miracle of Istanbul," would go down in history as one of the greatest comebacks in football history.

AC Milan, the Italian giants, were the heavy favourites going into the match. Led by the likes of Paolo Maldini, Andrea Pirlo, and Andriy Shevchenko, Milan had already won the Champions League twice in the previous five years and were widely considered to be one of the best teams in the world. 

Liverpool, on the other hand, were seen as underdogs. They had finished fifth in the Premier League that season and were without their talismanic captain Steven Gerrard, who was ruled out of the match due to injury.

The first half of the match was a complete disaster for Liverpool. They found themselves 3-0 down within the first 45 minutes, with goals from Paolo Maldini, Hernan Crespo, and a screamer from Andriy Shevchenko. Milan's dominance was clear, and it looked as though the match was over before it had even really begun.

However, Liverpool refused to give up. They came out for the second half with a renewed sense of purpose and determination. Within six minutes of the restart, Liverpool had pulled one back through a goal from Steven Gerrard's replacement, Dietmar Hamann. This gave the team some much-needed hope and momentum.

Liverpool continued to push forward, and in the 56th minute, they scored again. This time it was striker Djibril Cisse who found the back of the net, reducing the deficit to just one goal. Suddenly, the impossible seemed possible, and Liverpool's fans, who had travelled from all over the world to see their team play, began to believe that a comeback might be on the cards.