"Liverpool made an incredible comeback…`: Robbie Fowler on CL triumph in 2005

Liverpool legends David James and Robbie Fowler are still upbeat about the club’s chances of defending their English Premier League (EPL) title despite their woeful start to the season. The duo believe Arne Slot’s men can draw inspiration from the legendary second-half comeback Liverpool stirred up against AC Milan in the 2004-05 UEFA Champions League (UCL) final at Istanbul, which they won 6-5 on penalties after trailing 0-3 at half-time.

‘It will all click for them’

The Reds are currently 8th in the league table (21 points), having lost six of their 13 matches so far. They trail table-toppers Arsenal by eight points at the time of writing this, but James insists it’s ain’t over until the fat lady sings. “Liverpool will have that one game, where it all clicks for them, and then they’ll be set to carry that on for the rest of the season get into a position where they can contend for the title. We saw they went unbeaten for 24 games last season, so they are capable of doing that. If you recall [the 2005 UCL final], Milan were 3-0 up at half-time and were favourites to win the title, but then look at what happened,” James, who played for Liverpool between 1992-1999, told mid-day during an interaction at a city hotel on Sunday.

Liverpool players during their 1-4 defeat to PSV Eindhoven at Anfield on Wednesday

Fowler agreed with his ex-Manchester City and England teammate’s assessment, before firing a cheeky dig at the Gunners, when asked if it was Arsenal’s title to lose. “It’s not Arsenal’s title to lose because they haven’t won it yet. It’s Liverpool’s title to lose,” said Fowler with a laugh during the interaction organised by Carlsberg.

Arsenal may lose steam

James, who has also coached Indian Super League club Kerala Blasters (2014 and 2018), foresees Arsenal losing steam in the second-half of the season, just like they did in the last campaign. “There will come a point when a decision will have to be made [about prioritising competitions]. Last season, Arsenal sacrificed their EPL games to prioritise the UCL. That will leave Liverpool in a good position to capitalise because they’ll be in a mindset where they have to keep winning every game,” said James, who played 53 times for England.

Liverpool players celebrate with the trophy after their Champions League final win over Milan at Istanbul in 2005. ­­Pics/Getty Images

Reflecting on the ‘Miracle of Istanbul’ 20 years later, Fowler, who was then cheering Liverpool from the stands, revealed that he had given up at half-time before the Reds flipped the script much to the former East Bengal manager’s delight. “Honestly, no, I didn’t [expect Liverpool to win]. Milan were incredible in the first-half. They could have scored more than three. At half-time I was fearful. I thought this could end up being the most one-sided UCL final ever. But Liverpool made an incredible comeback,” said Fowler, who played for the Reds between 1993-2001 before returning for a second stint in 2006-2007.
James chimed in, saying: “Miracle rightly describes the event. The moment that Jerzy Dudek made that save [in the penalty shootout to deny Andriy Shevchenko], it was like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe what I’ve just witnessed’.”

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard was brilliant on the night, scoring the first goal and winning a penalty for the third. Then, custodian Dudek made an excellent double-save from point blank range against Shevchenko in the 117th min to take the match into penalties.

Liverpool sink West Ham 2-0

Alexander Isak finally scored his first Premier League goal for troubled Liverpool to inspire a much-needed 2-0 win against West Ham on Sunday. 
Isak had failed to score in his five top-flight appearances since making a British record £125 million ($165 million) move from Newcastle in September. Cody Gakpo bagged Liverpool’s second goal in stoppage time to secure their first win in four games in all competitions.