Henry Winter's take on Istanbul 2005

During half-time at the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul, the non-playing members of the AC Milan squad donned victory T-shirts the club had brought out with them. They slipped them under their shirts, ready to display them at the final whistle. Down below, those Milan players chosen to start were walking from the field, basking in the glow of their illuminating first-half display. They led 3-0, seemed destined for glory, and their colleagues up in the stands were surely not being presumptuous with their wardrobe change.

Down in the dressing room, Milan were preparing to party; the players glided through the door, chanting 'we're winning, we're winning'. Their experienced coach, Carlo Ancelotti, had a warning: "Look, when you're playing against Brits, a match is never really over. So let's be careful here. Let's make sure they don't seize control at the beginning of the second half. We can't - and we shouldn't - collapse. Go! Go! Milan!"

A couple of Liverpool fans appeared in the press box for a chat, saying they felt it had to be over and if we could recommend a good bar in town. Most of us were busy filing 1,200-word pieces on Milan supremacy so it was no time even for small talk. Deadlines, deadlines. Anyway, the game looked over, Liverpool looked vanquished and the presses could soon roll.

Nobody realised what was occurring downstairs in the dressing room area. The greatest of all comebacks was being plotted. Gerrard had arrived, fuming at what he perceived as 'a smirk' on the face of the Milan midfielder, Gennaro Gattuso. We asked Gattuso about the 'smirk' a few years later and he insisted he would never be so disrespectful. What was beyond question was that complacency crept into Milan's thinking. Hence Ancelotti demanding more urgency.

Events in the Liverpool dressing room are well known - from the defiance of Gerrard, who shouted "These lot think it's over. It's not." But an air of desperation did fall briefly across the squad. The Italians had such attacking class, especially Kaka and Hernan Crespo. They had such an experienced defence, including Paolo Maldini.

Then Benitez took charge, changing to three at the back, taking Steve Finnan off, sending Didi Hamann on and telling the intelligent German to sit alongside Alonso and get to grips with Kaka while Gerrard pushed on. His following words were simple, and immediately uplifting: "You're playing for Liverpool. The supporters have come a long way. Don't let them down. Give yourselves a chance to be heroes."

Benitez's words stirred his players who strode towards the pitch. They heard the fans singing 'You'll Never Walk Alone' and chanting "We're going to win 4-3". The fans had not given up on them. That could never be in their mindset. They'd fought through some tough moments that season, against Olympiacos and Chelsea. They'd come this far so, go on, give it a go.

So the stage was set for the miracle of Istanbul but the only person who knew it was Gerrard. Great players do great things at great moments. That is why the 2005 final will always be known as the Gerrard final. He scored, he terrorised Milan's famous defence and after Vladimir Smicer made it 3-2, Gerrard won the penalty from which Alonso eventually levelled.

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Football comes down to guts at times, a sheer refusal to accept defeat. It is not always those with most skill who win. It is often those who want it most. What happened in Istanbul was about the heart of a Merseysider, not the art of some elegant Italians and Brazilians, Dutch, Argentinians and Ukrainians.

It was Gerrard's finest hour - make that two hours - as a footballer. Even in extra-time, he was helping out, ignoring the pain in his tiring legs to deal with Serginho. Carragher was similarly magnificent, pushing the cramp back, pushing Milan back. Jerzy Dudek's double save from Andriy Shevchenko will always haunt the Ukrainian and ensure the Polish 'keeper is revered among Liverpool fans.

Ancelotti had his leading penalty-takers available for the shootout: Serginho, Andrea Pirlo, Jon Dahl Tomasson, Kaka and Shevchenko. Ancelotti then saw Dudek doing his wobbly-legs routine, and remembered where he had seen it before, in the final in Rome in 1984 when he was a Roma player (although not on the pitch against Liverpool). He recalled Bruce Grobbelaar's antics and watched in horror as Dudek did a similar jig which the Italian later described as like 'a hysterical belly-dancer'.

Ancelotti is one of football's best people to interview, brimming with anecdotes, until the question is posed about the six minutes that shook his world on May 25, 2005. It's like a dark cloud crosses his face, and his mood darkens, before he utters some words of respect about Benitez, Gerrard and Liverpool.

Events in Istanbul rendered some people speechless and others legless. The scenes of jubilation in Taksim Square were truly wild. People were celebrating one of the greatest sporting miracles of all time, a comeback rooted in events at half-time, in Benitez's rhetorical and tactical changes, in the unconditional support of the fans and the indomitability of Gerrard.

Istanbul was a lesson in resilience, a reminder to all that obstacles can be overcome, however daunting the situation. It is a lesson in life, as well as sport, and that is why it resonates with so many people around the world. Never give up.