Chelsea victories: Europe 2005
As part of our build-up to today's FA Cup final clash at Wembley, we take a look back at some of our most greatest victories over Chelsea and we continue with a famous win in 2005.
After a 21-year absence, the Reds were on the brink of returning to a European Cup final. However, 'the Special One' Jose Mourinho and his table-topping Chelsea stood in the way.
The Londoners were 36 points clear of Rafa Benitez's side in the league and highly-confident that they could overcome Liverpool at Anfield after a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge in the first leg.
One thing they didn't bank on was the atmosphere that night and how it might affect them.
Even Reds who were present on famous Anfield nights like the ones against Inter Milan in 1965 and St Etienne in 1977, have since been forced to concede that the semi-final in 2005 ranks alongside, if not above, both those occasions, in terms of atmosphere.
"Nothing I had experienced compared to the evening of May 3, 2005," Jamie Carragher wrote in his autobiography, Carra. "Even during the warming up the volume of noise was several decibels higher than most league games.
"The Kop was full early, there were more banners and scarves than I could remember, and a full repertoire of songs escorted us through our preparations.
"Chelsea players were affected by the surge of absolute conviction coming from the stands. They'd later admit they had never known an atmosphere like it."
Luis Garcia put the Reds up within five minutes and Liverpool held on to record a memorable victory.
One particular moment will live long in the memory for those watching and it didn't make for comfortable viewing at the time. Deep into the six minutes of added time, the ball fell for Eidur Gudjohnsen at the back post and he drived it across the face of goal and inches wide of Dudek's far post.
The Kop breathed a collective sigh of relief before launching back into raucous celebration.
"The Ring of Fire chants set the Kop ablaze during the final stressful seconds, as supporters maniacally waved their scarves above their heads, pleading for the final whistle," added Carragher.
Didi Hamann reflected on the night in his book 'The Didi Man: My Love Affair with Liverpool'.
"Just every so often you sense a feeling in and around a football ground that is different from the normal experience," wrote Hamann. "Even as we arrived at the ground there seemed to be something special in the air that night and there was a special feeling about the place.
"As we prepared to come on to the pitch it seemed the rafters were shaking, such was the intensity of the crowd. They sang relentlessly and as we emerged from the tunnel, we were hit by a wave of noise, which was to continue for the whole night.
"We were one up early on and the noise from the crowd, that earlier had seemed like it couldnt get ant louder, just got louder."
