25 May 2005. One of the most extraordinary nights in Champions League history. Liverpool fought back from 3-0 down to stun Italian giants AC Milan. The inspiration for that comeback has been widely discussed and now Djibril Cissé has once again claimed it all came from their captain, Steven Gerrard.
Football writer Dave O'Connell has recounted an interview that former Liverpool striker Djibril Cissé gave to French station RMC. In it, the Frenchman claimed it was a half-time speech from Gerrard that helped Liverpool make history.
Djibril Cissé to RMC: “I will never forget Gerrard’s team-talk at HT during the 05 CL final. Steven gets up & asks the coaching staff to leave the dressing room, he wanted to be alone with the players. All the staff left, even the physios who were giving treatment to players.”
— DaveOCKOP (@DaveOCKOP) September 9, 2018
2. Cissé: "Stevie gets up & says that LFC is all he has, it's his club, all he has ever known & he does not want to be the laughing stock of the history of the CL. He says that if we respect him & love him as a captain, then we need to dust ourselves off & get back in the match."
— DaveOCKOP (@DaveOCKOP) September 9, 2018
3. Cisse on Gerrard: "He scores the first goal, he gets the penalty. He has an extraordinary second half, finishing the game as a right-back. He has a crazy match – but that half-time speech will remain imprinted in my mind forever.” @GFFN
— DaveOCKOP (@DaveOCKOP) September 9, 2018
Cisse told a similar anecdote in 2017. However, this is a rumour that has been circulated in the past and refuted several times. Another man in the dressing that day was Jamie Carragher, who seemed to dispute Cisse's claim.
Interestingly, Steven Gerrard has addressed this previously. Back in 2016 when he was a pundit with BT Sport, Gerrard cited Istanbul as the best team talk he has ever received. He suggested it was down to "Rafa Benitez obviously weaving his magic."
Early on, everyone was talking, trying to help each other out and ask each other why we were so bad in the first-half and why Kaka was causing us so many problems. So there was a lot of noise early on but Rafa comes in, calms everyone down and gives us that inspirational team talk which helped us go on and get back into the game.
What's the best team talk you've ever received?
Gerrard recounts 'that' memorable night in Istanbul. #PLTonight https://t.co/Fax1Le0ILz
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) December 17, 2016
Fairytale nights such as this are often subject to creative license, so it is no great surprise that each players' account of that night differs greatly.
