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José Mourinho faced an election. At the time, with just four minutes left on the clock, it was a chance to accept a goal that he wasn’t sure had completely crossed the line or awarded a penalty kick and that his goalkeeper was sent off with 95 percent of a semifinal of the Champions League. End left to play.
If I ever asked you in a quiet reflective room, I hope you can be honest enough to admit that you would have made the choice you were given. But then Mourinho was damaged after that night at Anfield exactly fifteen years ago. Her shiny Mediterranean skin and wavy hair were stained and disheveled in a way that would never look the same again. I would follow a path to hotel and club life; its charm would eventually fade away.
Luis García’s “ghost goal”, as defined, will be remembered in Liverpool folklore as a strike that sent his team to Istanbul in one of the most intoxicating seasons in club history. It also means a night when a new generation of match goers got their own St. Etienne and Inter Milan, as Anfield shook himself to the ground in a way that clearly had an effect on Chelsea’s conquering lineup that season. .
(Image: MUSTAFA OZER / AFP via Getty Images)
However, the legacy of the goal and the result has proven to be deeper than anyone can imagine over time. In terms of what Rafael Benítez would accomplish at the club, this season would never be improved in a trophy sense, however it was what victory did to Chelsea and Mourinho, and their clear attempts to assert dominance in the game, that would leave the biggest mark.
If Mourinho had won the consecutive Champions League, as well as a debut season of the Premier League and the Carling Cup, there is a fair chance that even Manchester United under Alex Ferguson could not stop them. The exuberance and invincibility of the Portuguese was on the way to settling down until that night, and would have made Liverpool’s rebuilding work under Benitez even more difficult over the years, and perhaps even to this day.
Also, there was the Steven Gerrard theme. For two consecutive summers, the Reds captain was on the verge of moving to London and joining the Blues, only to reverse his decision at the last minute. If Chelsea had found their way to Istanbul and beaten AC Milan that night, it is questionable whether Gerrard’s emotional ties would have been enough to keep him on Merseyside.
By lifting the fifth European Cup, he was able to see what it meant to his people and ultimately it was enough to dedicate a career to Liverpool. If he hadn’t, a generational talent would probably have left and would have made the club’s fate more uncertain than ever. Things were far from perfect in the following years, but tonight he reminded everyone that Liverpool was still a sleeping giant who had not yet fully awakened from his sleep. Meanwhile, Chelsea would never reach the heights under Mourinho that so many had anticipated.
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