2007 Champions League Final
This was the first Champions League final in a while where I haven’t had the opportunity to watch it live. Fortunately, ESPN Classic had the game on at 7 PM (an instant classic?), so I even had time to grab some India Pale Ale to enjoy as I watched.
Since Liverpool are a bunch of long-ball merchants, and AC Milan are the very epitome of negativity, I was braced for a poor match. However, the Scousers started with some real intent, taking the game to Milan and unsettling their normally-unflappable defense. Pennant had the beating of Jankulovski on the right, and Mascherano was keeping Kaka quiet down the middle. Of course, Zenden was a complete waste of space on the left.
However, a soft foul on Kaka led to a deflected free-kick goal for Milan on the stroke of halftime, and Liverpool were forced to chase the game. Whether due to their fast tempo in the first half or the long season catching up with them, they grew tired and could no longer dictate the game. Some baffling decisions by Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez didn’t help, with the team’s top-scorer in Europe, the gigantic Peter Crouch, only brought on for the last 15 minutes. Benitez also took off Mascherano, and after Kaka set up a second Milan goal and Kuyt pulled one back, he brought on a defender for the finale. Very mysterious indeed. Maybe he thought the game was tied?
My last qualm goes to the referee. Despite a minimum of three minutes for added time shown, he ended the game after 2 minutes and 40 seconds. And this, despite an injury, a lengthy substitution and general timewasting by the Italians. I’m a firm believer in the game lasting 90 minutes, with time spent treating players’ “injuries” and all other manner of gamesmanship tacked on at the end. I’d rather see 6 minutes of added time as the standard, instead of the usual 2 or 3. It was a good game, and I was sorry to see it end like that.
