Juventus at Anfield in 2005. Fucking hell. I know the Chelsea semi gets spoken about more, probably rightly so, but that Juve game was phenomenal. The definite turning point between us making up the numbers in that tournament to, hold on a minute...we can actually win this fucking thing. The team sheets were an absolute mismatch.
For us: Carson, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Traore, Luis Garcia, Gerrard, Biscan, Riise, Le Tallec (Smicer 73), Baros (Nunez 66).
For them: Buffon, Zebina (Montero 81), Cannavaro, Thuram, Zambrotta, Blasi (Pessotto 45), Emerson, Camoranesi, Nedved, Del Piero (Trezeguet 61), Ibrahimovic.
Talk about David v Golliath. Fair enough, Gerrard was better than every single one of their players, and Hyypia (& possibly Carra too) could hold their own alongside any of their boys, but beyond that we looked out of our depth. Buffon, Cannavaro, Thuram, Nedved, Del Piero, Ibrahimovic... all giants of the game. Their least heralded player was the Brazilian captain ffs!
That was my first Anfield European night - needless to say it lived up to the hype. It's quite strange for a first leg to be so intense, but I think there was a few things at play in the atmosphere - the emotions of it being the first competitive fixture between the two clubs since Heysel, the quality of opposition, the magnitude of the stage, the knowing that we as a crowd would all have to play our part more than ever to help our boys overcome the mismatch in talent.
Anyways, you all know what happened next. I'll leave you with one of the greatest moments I've ever had watching us. It's somewhat overshadowed by Garcia's brilliant goal, but this one will always mean more to me, it was the moment it hit home that we can go all the way.
https://www.youtube.com/v/wnZ2oos02IU