Liverpool's 2004-05 Champions League Winning Squad: Where Are They Now?

25th May 2005: Ataturk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey

AC Milan 3-3 Liverpool (2-3)

The 2005 final of the Champions League is probably the greatest ever final in Champions League history. Liverpool, three goals down at the stroke of half time came back and produced one of the greatest comebacks in the history. Liverpool first Champions League title since 1984 was certainly on that won't be forgotten by any Liverpool fan. So, where are the Liverpool team that won in that historic night in Istanbul?

1) Jerzy Dudek (#1)

Dudek was an instrumental part of Liverpool's team in the final in Istanbul. He made vital saves and saved 2 penalties in the penalty shootout. Dudek spent the next two seasons with Liverpool, winning the Super Cup, then winning the FA Cup and Community Shield in 2006 before making another Champions League final appearance in 2007. He then left Liverpool in the summer of 2007 and joined Spanish giants, Real Madrid as a back-up goalkeeper to Iker Casillas. He won La Liga and the Supercopa de Espana in his debut season before winning the Copa Del Ray in 2011 before retiring at the end of the 2010-11 season. Internationally, Dudek made 60 appearances for Poland and appeared for Poland in the 2002 World Cup, before retiring from the team in 2013.

2) Steve Finnan (#3)

Finnan started the final in Istanbul and played the first half before being subbed off early in the second half. Finnan went on to spend the next three years with Liverpool, winning the Super Cup, FA Cup, Community Shield and was a runner-up in the 2007 edition. He then left Liverpool in the 2008 summer transfer window and joined La Liga side, Espanyol where he spent one season before returning to the Premier League to play for Portsmouth. He made an appearance in the 2010 FA Cup final falling short to Chelsea. He then retired in 2010. Finnan made over 50 appearances for Ireland, including an appearance in the 2002 World Cup.

3) Sami Hyypia (#4)

Hyypia can often be regarded a legend within Liverpool due to his fantastic leadership roles. He started the match in Istanbul and played the full 90 minutes plus extra time. Hyypia spent the next four years with Liverpool, and won the Super Cup in August of 2005, the Community Shield and FA Cup in 2006 and another Champions League final in 2007. He then joined Bundesliga side, Bayer Leverkusen where he spent the last 2 seasons of his career before retiring in 2011. Hyypia appeared for Finland over 100 time and is currently Finland's third most highest appearance maker. He never made any appearances in any major tournament. He has managerial experience with Bayer Leverkusen and Brighton and was recently the assistant manager at Finish team, FC Haka back in 2020.

4) Milan Baroš (#5)

Baroš started the final in Istanbul and played until the 85th minute. Since then, Baroš made a move to Birmingham to play for Aston Villa for two seasons before leaving for Lyon midway through the 2006-07 season. His time French city was full with Ligue 1 dominance as he won Ligue 1 in his first season and second season though he spent the rest of the 2007-08 season on loan at Portsmouth, winning the FA Cup. Permanently leaving later, he joined Galatasaray for four and a half seasons and won the Turkish league in 2012. In February 2013, Baroš returned to Czech Republic to play for boyhood club Banik Ostrava before playing for fellow Czech teams, Mlada Boleslav, Slovan Liberec and Banik Ostrava for the third time between 2013 and 2020. He is currently playing for FK Vigantice in Czech Republic. He appeared for Czech Republic in 2 European Championships and 1 World Cup, being the top-scorer in EURO 2004.

5) John Arne Riise (#6)

Riise was a vital player for Liverpool and his time at the club made a name for himself. He started the final in Turkey and played the full match plus extra time and was the only player to miss a penalty for Liverpool in the penalty shootout. He then spent another three years with Liverpool, winning the Super Cup, FA Cup and Community Shield. He then made a move in 2008 to Italy to play for Roma for three seasons before deciding to play in England once again for Fulham in 2011. He made over 80 appearances at the Craven Cottage club before moving to Cypriot side APOEL for a season before moving to India to make 10 appearances for the Indian side. He then returned to Norway in 2016 to play for Aalesunds before initially retiring in 2017. He then returned to football in 2023 and currently plays for Alvadsnes and manages the women's team. Riise appeared for Norway in only one major tournament (EURO 2000) and is Norway's most capped player.

6) Harry Kewell (#7)

Kewell made history in Istanbul, despite only playing half of the first half before being subbed off due to injury. He became the first Australian player to win the European Cup/Champions League and was the only player from Australia to win a European tournament until 2022. Since that final, Kewell appeared for Liverpool in the next three seasons. During that time, he made another Champions League final in 2007 and won the FA Cup one year after the Istanbul success. He then moved to Turkey to play for Galatasaray and over the course of his three year stay, he made 63 caps and scored 22 goals domestically and also won the Turkish Cup in 2008, scoring once and receiving the man of the match award. He then returned to Australia to play for Melbourne Victory, making 25 appearances and scoring 8 goals. He then made a move to Qatar for Al-Gharafa in which he only made 3 caps scoring once. He then retired in Australia with Melbourne Heart in 2014. Internationally, Kewell won the 2004 OFC Nations Cup and was a runner up in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar and the 1997 Confederations Cup in Saudi Arabia. He currently works for Celtic in Scotland as a first team coach.

7) Steven Gerrard (#8)

Gerrard is probably regarded as the greatest ever player in the history of the club and is regarded as one of England's most revolutionized and influential players. Gerrard started the final in Istanbul as captain and scored the first of three goals in the second half and was awarded the man of the match award. Gerrard would stay with Liverpool until 2015, becoming even more of a club legend due to his valiant performances. In his remainder of 10 years at the club, Gerrard won the FA Cup and Community Shield in 2006 and the League Cup in 2012. He left the club in 2015, being the third highest appearance maker for the team. He then joined MLS giants, LA Galaxy for 2 years before retiring in 2016. For England, Gerrard played for the Three Lions in 3 World Cups and 2 European Championships between 2001 and 2014, captaining the team in 3 of those 5 major tournaments and made a total of 114 caps for the team. In 2017, he returned to Liverpool to be their u17 coach before being the manager of Rangers in Scotland and won them the Scottish Premiership for the first time since 2011. He was then appointed by Aston Villa in November 2021 but got sacked just one year later after a poor start to the 2022-23 season. In July 2023, he became the manager of Saudi Pro League side, Al Ettifaq.

8) Djibril Cissé (#9)

Cissé started the final on the bench but came in the 85th minute and scored the second penalty in the shootout for Liverpool. Cissé spent another season with Liverpool winning the FA Cup and Community Shield, before moving back to France to play for Marseille in 2006 originally a loan before making it permanent in 2007. In the 2008-09 season, Cissé returned to England to play for Sunderland on loan, before leaving Marseille permanently for Panathinaikos winning the Greek League and Cup in 2010 before leaving for clubs in Italy, England, Russia, Reunion, Switzerland and Italy before initially retiring in 2018 but came out of retirement in 2021 and joined Panathinaikos Chicago before joining the Kings League in 2023. He played for France in 2 World Cups out of a possible 3, making 41 caps with 9 goals and won the 2003 Confederations Cup. In 2021, Cissé returned to Marseille to coach their youth sector.

9) Luis Garcia (#10)

Garcia started the final in Istanbul, played the full 120 minutes but didn't take part in the penalty shootout. Garcia spent another two seasons with Liverpool, winning the FA Cup and Community Shield in 2006. He then left the club in July 2007 and rejoined his former team, Atletico Madrid for 2 years before joining fellow La Liga side, Racing Santander but left after the club narrowly avoided relegation in w2010. He then joined clubs in Greece and Mexico before initially retiring in January 2014. He came out of retirement in July of that year and joined Indian side, Atletico Kolkata in which he won the inaugural Indian Super League but then left for Australian side, Central Coast Mariners making 10 appearances with 2 goals before retiring again in 2016. He appeared for Spain in the 2006 World Cup and started group matches against Ukraine and Tunisia but was an unused substitute in their Round of 16 defeat against France. He commonly works as a La Liga sports pundit for ESPN.

10) Vladimir Šmicer (#11)

Smicer helped inspire the comeback and was the second goal-scorer for Liverpool as well as the third penalty in the shootout. He then left Liverpool in the summer and joined Ligue 1 side, Bordeaux for two seasons and won the 2006-07 Coupe De La Ligue with them. He then returned to his parent club, Slavia Praha in July 2007 and helped them win their first Czech league title in 12 years before retiring in 2009. For his national team, Smicer is the third-highest goalscorer for the Czech Republic team and was a runner-up in the 1996 UEFA European Championship. He also appeared for the team in two more Euros in 2000 and 2004 while winning the Bronze Ball and the Silver Boot in the 1997 Confederations Cup.

11) Xabi Alonso (#14)

Alonso was the player who helped complete the comeback after scoring a rebound from a saved penalty. He then spent another four seasons with Liverpool, winning the FA Cup and Community Shield in 2006. He then made a move back to Spain to play for Real Madrid. During his time in the Spanish capital, Alonso won La Liga in 2012, 2 Copa Del Ray titles in 2011 and 2014 and a Champions League win in the 2013-14 season. He then left Madrid in 2014 and joined Bavarian giants, Bayern Munich and for the remainder of his career, he won 3 back to back Bundesliga titles, 1 DFB Pokal in 2016 and a DFL Supercup in that same year. He then decided to retire in 2017. Alonso had appeared for Spain in 3 World Cups and 2 European Championships winning the 2010 World Cup and 2008 and 2012 European Championship, making 114 caps and scoring 16 times. He retired from the national team after a disappointing 2014 World Cup. He returned to Real Madrid in 2018 to manage their youth academy but he then left in 2019 and was appointed as Real Sociedad B manager until 2022 when he was appointed manager of Bayer Leverkusen’s first team which he currently manages.

12) Dietmar Hamann (#16)

Hamann started the match on the bench and came on at the beginning of the second half and scored the first penalty for Liverpool. Hamann then spent another year with the Merseyside team, winning the FA Cup in his final season. In June 2006, Hamann was linked with a move to Bolton Wanderers which he eventually signed but he stated that he had a change of heart and joined Manchester City the following day. He spent the next three seasons with the team in Manchester and made 54 appearances however just scored 1 goal. He then was a free agent in 2009 and in 2010, he signed as a player-coach with Milton Keynes Dons but made only 12 caps for the club. He then retired in 2011. Playing for Germany, Hamann made 59 appearances and scored 5 goals as well as making the 2 World Cup and 2 European Championships. He was part of the German team who were runners-up in the 2002 World Cup. After Hamann left MK Dons and in February 2011, he joined Leicester City as the first team coach before leaving to become the first team manager of Football League side, Stockport County but resigned after just four months in charge.

13) Josemi (#17)

Josemi started the match on the bench and failed to come on as a substitute. He failed to make much appearances for Liverpool and in January 2006, he was part of a swap deal with Villareal back in Spain leaving the club with getting his name on the scoresheet. He made a promising start with 22 appearances in the 2006-07 season however, he made only 1 appearance the following season, when Villareal became La Liga runners up that season. He then signed for Mallorca in the summer of 2008 before leaving Spain in 2010 and spending the rest of his career with clubs in Greece, Spain and India, winning the inaugural running of the Indian Super League in 2014, with former teammate, Luis Garcia. He retired in 2015 after making 20 appearances for the club.

14) Antonio Nunez (#18)

Nunez was an unused substitute in the final in Istanbul. Following a slow season with Liverpool, Nunez returned to Spain to play for Celta Vigo, and he was heavily used before joining Murcia in 2008. After just one year with Murcia, he joined Cypriot side, Apollon Limassol and after three seasons, he returned to Spain to play for Huesca on a one-and-a-half year deal before joining Deportivo La Coruna in 2013 and left again after in 2014. He retired in 2018, after spending four years with Recreativo de Huelva.

15) Scott Carson (#20)

Carson was the reserve goalkeeper for Liverpool due to the presence of Jerzy Dudek. After just four appearances at the start of the 2005-06 season, he made a loan move to Sheffield Wednesday in March 2006. After just 9 appearances, he returned to Liverpool but between August 2006 and 2007, he spent two seasons on loan at Charlton Athletic and Aston Villa, before permanently leaving Liverpool in 2008 for West Bromwich Albion, where he spent three season, being relegated and promoted between 2009 and 2010. He left for Turkey in 2011 for Bursaspor, where he spent two seasons in Bursa, Turkey before returning to England in 2013 for Wigan Athletic for two seasons before joining Derby County from 2015 to 2021 while spending a two year loan at Manchester City between 2019 and 2021, before his move was made permanent in 2021. Since then, Carson enjoyed great success with the Citizens, including European success in 2023, in the same venue as his 2005 success, as well as the Club World Cup just recently. Manchester City is where he currently plays.

16) Djimi Traore (#21)

Traore started the final in Istanbul and played the full 120 minutes but didn't take part in the penalty shootout. Traore spent one more season with Liverpool, winning the FA Cup before leaving in 2006 for Charlton Athletic before leaving just halfway through the season for Portsmouth where he spent consecutive loan seasons with Rennes and Birmingham City between 2008 and 2009. He left permanently in 2009 and joined Monaco in France for two years and left for Marseille in 2011, where he won the 2011-12 Coupe de la Ligue. He then retired with MLS side, Seattle Sounders in 2014. Playing for Mali, Traore made 6 caps and just scored once. He worked as the Seattle Sounders B assistant coach for a year in 2015, before being promoted to assistant manager of the first team in 2016 until 2021. Traore currently works as a coach for the Right to Dream Academy, a football academy situated in Ghana.

17) Jamie Carragher (#23)

Carragher is often regarded as the best center back in Liverpool history and one of the most influential ones as well. He started the final in Istanbul and played the full 120 minutes. Carragher would then spend the next 8 seasons with Liverpool only, winning the FA Cup in 2006 as well as the Community Shield in that same year, and the League Cup in 2012. He left the club in 2013 and retired a legend, making over 700 appearances for the club, being one of few players to stay at the same club for the entirety of his career. Carragher appeared for England between 1999 to 2010, appearing for the Three Lions in 2 World Cups and 1 European Championship, before retiring from the team in 2010.

18) Igor Biscan (#25)

Biscan was an unused substitute in the Turkish final. He then terminated his Liverpool contract in the summer of 2005 and joined Greek side, Panathinaikos and made 63 caps and scored only 3 times. He left upon contract expiration in 2007 and returned to Croatia and played for former club, Dinamo Zagreb. He spent the remainder of career in the Croatian capital winning the Croatian League 5 times in a row, 2 Croatian Cups and 1 Super Cup. He then retired in 2012. He made 15 caps for Croatia scoring once, but didn't appear in a major finals with them. Biscan has worked with clubs as manager in Croatia and Slovenia, as well as winning the Croatian League in 2023 with Dinamo Zagreb. He was even the Croatia U21 manager between 2019 and 2023. He was most recently the manager of Saudi club, Al Shabab.

19) Rafael Benitez (Manager)

Benitez is commonly regarded as won of the best managers in world football and of Spanish history. After the success in Istanbul, Benitez stayed another 5 years with Liverpool, winning the UEFA Super Cup in 2005 and the FA Cup and Community Shield in 2006. He left Liverpool in 2010, and was then hired by Inter Milan a week after his departure from Liverpool. His time in Milan wasn't long and he was dismissed after just winning the 2010 Club World Cup. His next job came in 2012, as the intern manager for Chelsea. He made another Club World Cup final that year, but lost, however, he helped the Blues win the 2013 Europa League. He was then signed by Napoli in May 2013, just after winning the Europa League. He guided Napoli to a victory in the 2014 Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa de Italia that same year. He was then hired by Real Madrid in 2015, but got sacked after Real were ranked third in La Liga in January 2016. A few months after his Madrid sacking, Benitez returned to England, this time to manage Newcastle in the Championship. In his first full season at the club, he helped win them the EFL Championship and gained promotion to the Premier League. He left for China in 2019 and joined Dalian Professional, but left by mutual consent in 2021, and the outspread of the corona virus pandemic. He returned to England to coach his fourth Premier League team. This time, it was Everton who he managed, Liverpool's rival in Merseyside. He then was sacked in January 2022, after a poor run of performances. In 2023, Benitez returned to Spain to coach Celta Vigo, which he currently manages.

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