Liverpool, Chelsea and a ‘ghost goal’ that still haunts Jose Mourinho 20 years on

On May 3, 2005, Liverpool entertained Chelsea at Anfield in the deciding leg of the Champions League semi-finals.

It was always going to be a seismic occasion, yet it turned into one of the most controversial matches in the competition’s recent history, helping fuel one of English football’s great modern rivalries.

The reason? Luis Garcia’s heavily disputed winner, which the UK media dubbed a “ghost goal” and Chelse manager Jose Mourinho said had “come from the moon or the Anfield Road stands”.

To mark its 20th anniversary, The Athletic relived the events of that tumultuous night with key figures from both sides who were there.

First, the context. 

In the seasons before their meeting in 2005, Liverpool and Chelsea were rivals for Champions League qualification. Now, however, the London club were pulling clear under Mourinho, who had been appointed, like his Liverpool counterpart Rafael Benitez, in the summer of 2004. Chelsea had already won the Premier League by the time they came to Merseyside in May and would finish the season on 95 points, conceding a record-low 15 goals along the way.

Liverpool, in contrast, were struggling to pull clear of fifth-placed Bolton Wanderers in the league and had already lost the League Cup final against Chelsea that season. Their form in Europe, however, was a different story: having edged past Olympiacos with Steven Gerrard’s late intervention in the group stage, they had knocked out Juventus and Bayer Leverkusen and then earned a creditable 0-0 draw with Chelsea in the semi-final first leg. There was no question, however, about who were favourites. 

Dietmar Hamann, Liverpool midfielder: We were the underdogs. With the away goals rule, we knew that if we conceded at home it would be really tough. We knew we needed the perfect performance against the best team in England and Rafa set us up perfectly tactically.

Rafael Benitez, Liverpool manager: The key tactically was our balance as we had to remain solid, compact and well organised. It was 4-4-2 when we were defending, 4-2-3-1 when we were attacking. We couldn’t afford to give them space.

I didn’t like us to sit too deep or to press too high, which then invites teams to play long. We played what I call ‘three-quarters’. We talked a lot about choosing the right pass as a trigger for the press all together. Usually it came from the centre-back passing to the full-back.

(Chelsea forward) Didier Drogba was a ‘runner’ and I’d speak to (Liverpool centre-back) Sami Hyypia about how you had to move early and anticipate his movement. If we pressed that side then they would try the ball in behind and the centre-backs had to go early to ensure they were already there to deal with it.

Ricardo Carvalho, Chelsea defender: Yes, it was difficult to play against us but Liverpool deserved to be in the semi-finals, too. They had a very good coach and very good players as well — Jamie Carragher, Hyppia and Gerrard. They were very compact.

On big European nights, Anfield always comes alive but this was on a whole different level. Supporters packed into the stadium early and created a hostile atmosphere that caught some of the Chelsea players off guard.

Robert Huth, Chelsea defender: When we got to the ground, there were thousands on the streets. When we got off the bus, we saw all the red flames. Liverpool supporters have since said the atmosphere was one of the best in history, so for them to say that, it must have been f*****g good! Once Anfield is rocking, it is rocking, and you can’t even hear your own voice.

Igor Biscan, Liverpool midfielder: I’d already played in a lot of big games but this was something different. I could sense it from the moment I walked out for the warm-up. The stands were already filling up. The supporters realised that we needed their help to get through. Everyone wanted it so badly. It was so loud.

Benitez: Chelsea had a lot of experienced, top-class players, but even the best can feel the pressure of an atmosphere like that. There’s no doubt that it made our players run the extra mile. Was it the best I experienced at Anfield? It’s certainly one of the best.

The controversy came early, after just four minutes. Gerrard dinked a pass between John Terry and Carvalho — the defensive duo who were usually so tight — to play in Milan Baros. Goalkeeper Petr Cech charged out and bundled into the striker but Garcia pounced and clipped the ball towards goal. William Gallas thought he had done enough to prevent it from crossing the line but the Slovakian referee Lubos Michel, on the advice of his assistant Roman Slysko, ruled it had.

John Terry, Chelsea defender: I was probably the closest one to it, even though Willy (Gallas) got to the ball after me. It definitely wasn’t a goal.

Carvalho: The problem is no one can confirm that the ball was inside (the goal). I did not have a good view. I was looking at William running back and kicking the ball, so I cannot say, but William was saying the ball was out.

Luis Garcia watches his shot head for goal (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)

Hamann: I looked at the assistant and he immediately gave the goal. It was like an eruption inside Anfield. With Terry and Carvalho so solid, we knew we were unlikely to get many chances, so we needed to fly out of the block and impose ourselves on the game. It was the dream start, and a brilliantly worked move.

Huth: From the bench, you see things a bit different. It wasn’t an obvious goal, so I was asking, ‘Was it, wasn’t it?’. And without any technology, I just felt like it had to have been a goal. There was a bit of injustice there but the main thing was the noise from the crowd. For us, it was about getting on with it.

Chelsea had 86 minutes plus stoppage time to find an equaliser that, with the away goal rule, would have been enough to send them into the final. For Liverpool, the plan was to sit deep and protect what they had but the final stages were tense.

Huth: Mourinho put me on as a striker. He said, ‘Go get a goal, score’. I wasn’t there to keep a goal out, it was to get the big guy up front and cause a bit of chaos. At that point, I knew exactly what was going on, so it didn’t need a big speech. I just had 15-20 minutes to score but finishing wasn’t my strongest point!

In the dying stages, Chelsea’s moment duly arrived. Lampard tossed in a high cross, Terry headed across goal and as Liverpool struggled to clear their lines, the loose ball fell to Eidur Gudjohnsen at the back post. The Iceland international was on the edge of the six-yard box, but at an acute angle and with Liverpool defenders scrambling to cover. His shot was well struck… but flashed just past the far post.

Hamman: In the second half, we were up against it. We had to work so hard to keep them out. Increasingly, it was just about hanging on. I came off with about 20 minutes to go and it was scary watching the rest of it from the bench. Then, when the ball fell to Gudjohnsen in the 95th minute… it was like the world stood still. It was pure drama. I had my head in my hands. If Djimi Traore had got a touch at the near post, it probably would have ended up in the net.

Eidur Gudjohnsen watches his late effort flash wide for Chelsea (Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

Antonio Nunez, Liverpool attacker, speaking to The Athletic in 2022: The shot went just wide and the ball passed quite close to me. My brother told me he was worried I was going to get a touch and make an own goal. That would have killed us.

There was no time for Chelsea to come again and Liverpool had reached their first European final since 1985.

Biscan: The scenes when the final whistle went seconds later were crazy. It was like we had won the cup already. It was the most electrifying night at Anfield I ever had. We went into the city later that night to have a few drinks and celebrate. 

Hamman: The roar that went around the ground at the final whistle still gives me goosebumps. We did a lap of honour after and you could see what it meant to the people.

Nunez: When I went to the players’ lounge after to see my brother, he just kept saying to me, ‘You are in the Champions League final! You are in the Champions League final! Can you believe what’s happened to you?’. Many people in Spain say to me, ‘Why is Anfield so famous? Why is the atmosphere so special?’. I always say you have to go there and live it for yourself to truly understand it. It’s a special place.

Benitez: I went to a bar at the Albert Dock that night with my wife and some friends to celebrate. I didn’t drink, I just enjoyed seeing what it meant to everyone. It had been 20 years since Liverpool had reached a Champions League final. But even in the bar, I was already thinking about the next challenge.

After the game, Mourinho was in no mood to be magnanimous, taking aim at the officials and Garcia’s goal. Michel said later that he had complete confidence in Slysko’s decision to flag for a goal and that, if he had not, he would have awarded a penalty and sent off Cech for fouling Baros. The controversy, however, still rages. 

Hamman: Was it over the line? I have no idea, but I would have much rather had a red card for Cech and a penalty for us than the goal be awarded. Mourinho complained but that completely overlooked the fact that they were actually lucky not to be a man down for 85 minutes-plus. It was a better decision for them than it was for us!

Benitez: I was at a UEFA board meeting with Petr Cech the other day. Whenever that night comes up in conversation, I always tell him: ‘OK, penalty and red card for us, don’t complain about that goal being awarded! Would you have preferred to be a man down right at the beginning of the game?’. He was laughing.

The 2005 match sparked a rivalry between Jose Mourinho (left) and Rafael Benitez (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Terry: I would rather it had hit the net: a goal is a goal, we know where we stand and Liverpool would have beaten us. The fact it’s, ‘Was it, wasn’t it?’, doesn’t really sit well with me. It would be interesting to see it with modern technology. Losing such a big game on something like that, it is probably why we have VAR now and we should appreciate it for those reasons.

For Liverpool, the rest is history. They went on to win the Champions League in Istanbul, recovering from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 and beat Milan on penalties. For Chelsea, who ultimately finished 37 points ahead of Liverpool in the Premier League, there were only regrets and a sense of what might have been.

Biscan: We were the underdogs in the Champions League that season. But from the moment we beat Olympiacos in the final group game to advance to the knockout stages, our belief started to grow. It got bigger and bigger with every round we reached. Through sheer determination and a really competitive spirit we kept on getting through. When we beat Chelsea, it felt like it was our destiny to go on and lift the trophy in Istanbul.

Terry: I won a lot of trophies in my career, but it is the ones that get away from you that leave a little scratch, a little niggle there. That (the goal) is one of those moments where you go, ‘We don’t really know the answer to it’, but I’d actually rather know the answer.

Liverpool celebrate beating Chelsea (Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

Carvalho: It would have been great to play a Champions League final that year. But you have to find a balance in yourself because it is not easy to get into a Champions League semi-final or final. The team that we built deserved to win such an important trophy. We had our opportunity. We came so close.

And the next years were difficult to play against Liverpool.  You always had in the press conferences Mourinho and Benitez having their mind games. And, for us as players, maybe in that time we wanted to show something more than just to win the game against them. You had this sensation that it should have been us that played in the final.

Huth: For Mourinho, it was the Champions League that he never won with the team that he loved. That team certainly was good enough to win the Champions League. The good thing about football is that there is always another game and I’m just happy for Chelsea that they eventually celebrated winning it in 2012.

Benitez: Fathers still often come up to me to talk about that night. The teenage children with them don’t know about it because they weren’t even born, it was that long ago. I never thought too much about the complaints about the goal. The reality is that we won the game and deserved to win.

(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Will Tulos)

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