Even now, 20 years on, it is a moment which takes the breath away.
Steven Gerrard had no right to score the goal that he himself described as the most important of the 186 he plundered for Liverpool. He was around 20 yards out, faced with a ball bouncing across his body, and with two Olympiacos defenders desperately closing him down.
But with a perfect swing of his right leg, Gerrard hit the sweetest of half-volleys to secure Liverpool’s passage into the Champions League last 16.
Without that goal there would have been no glory in Istanbul five months later nor, perhaps, any of Gerrard’s subsequent heroics in Liverpool red: he was already being courted by Premier League rivals Chelsea, and may have found their offers harder to resist had the club not gone on to be crowned European champions.
Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of Gerrard’s goal and to mark the occasion, The Athletic spoke to those who were there to unpick its brilliance and significance.
The context
Liverpool entered this night under a cloud. Cut adrift in the Premier League — Rafa Benitez’s team were seventh, 15 points off leaders Chelsea — Gerrard had given an interview the previous day in which he had warned the club he would have to consider his future if they could not match his ambitions.
“If we’re moving forward and I’m successful at this club then I won’t need to go anywhere else, but if things aren’t looking good I’ll have to see what happens in the summer,” he told reporters. “Hopefully the turnaround can happen quite sharpish.”
All of which made the Olympiacos tie fraught with peril. Liverpool started the night in third place in Group A, three points behind the Greeks and needing to win either 1-0 or by two clear goals to secure their passage into the knockout stage.
Jamie Carragher, Liverpool defender: There was pressure riding on that game for a number of reasons. The season hadn’t started well and failing to go through to the knockout stages would have created more negativity, as well as the club missing out financially. And then you had Stevie’s situation. That upped the stakes. He had spoken to the media the day before and his comments were all over the morning newspapers. Sometimes as a player you see the headlines and think, ‘Oh, I wish I hadn’t said that.’ His future was a big news story going into it.
Neil Mellor, Liverpool striker: We weren’t in the title race and if we’d have gone out of the Champions League that night, Stevie would have been thinking, ‘Where’s the club going, where are we competing?’. He’d have had some big decisions to make because no doubt everyone wanted Stevie. He was a Liverpool boy but we weren’t competing and he wanted to be.
Steven Gerrard prepares for the Olympiacos game, with uncertainty shrouding his future (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Stephen Warnock, Liverpool defender: There’s always that element of ‘anything can happen at Anfield’. We’d lost the away game so we knew Olympiacos were decent. But there was always a belief that we could do it. Rafa was pretty simple with his instructions. He said, ‘If they score one, we must score three and if they score two, we must score four’. It was the only message the players had so they stuck at it. It was a game we felt we could win.
Martin Tyler, Sky Sports commentator: We had an interesting day. Jamie Carragher opened a restaurant/bar in Liverpool and we paid a visit. There was a buzz around the place, the whole ethos of going to Anfield for a European night. I loved to be around the Scousers ahead of a big game like that. The power of Liverpool, particularly shooting towards the Kop, should never be underestimated.
Liverpool’s night started in wretched fashion, Rivaldo putting the visitors ahead in the 27th minute with a free-kick he had won himself after a jinking run.
Antonio Nunez, Liverpool midfielder: It was my first European game for Liverpool and the first time I had played in the Champions League in my career. I was excited that Rafa picked me to start but my memories are bittersweet. I got criticised for the goal we conceded which was unfair. Before the game (goalkeeper) Chris Kirkland had been saying to Rafa that he had let in a free-kick in the previous game (against Aston Villa) because he couldn’t see the ball properly.
I was told that I should move a bit if I was in the wall for a free-kick so Kirkland could see better. So I moved just as Rivaldo hit it and it was just bad luck that the ball went straight through that space and in. It was clearly my fault because I had moved but I had been told to move. The media blamed me for Rivaldo’s goal and in an interview afterwards Kirkland put it down to the wall moving. He didn’t say it was part of the plan!
Rivaldo spots a gap in the Liverpool wall to fire Olympiacos ahead (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
It rattled Liverpool, who were unable to muster a response before half-time. Benitez took decisive action at the break as he brought on Florent Sinama Pongolle for Djimi Traore. The young French attacker made an instant impact, converting a cross from Harry Kewell to make the scoreline 1-1.
Liverpool pressed on, with Gerrard at the centre of everything: he had one long-range strike ruled out after a foul in the build-up from Milan Baros.
Then, in the 78th minute, another change: Neil Mellor, an academy graduate with just 14 senior Liverpool appearances under his belt, was deployed for Baros. Within two minutes, he had scored, firing in the rebound after Nunez’s header had been saved from Pongolle’s cross, to set up a frantic finale.
Mellor: I remember fuming at half-time because we were losing 1-0 and we knew what we had to do and he brought Pongolle on ahead of me. I was thinking, ‘You need a goal, get me on, why are you putting him on?’. I rated Pongolle, but I’d scored more goals than him so I was absolutely fuming thinking, ‘That’s not right’.
I kept looking at Rafa when I was warming up thinking, ‘When is he going to put me on?’ because I knew I was going to get chances. I don’t know how many times I’d touched it before I scored, if I’d even had a touch at all. Nunez should have scored but the goalkeeper made the save and I was quickest to react.
Carragher: People always talk about Rafa at half-time in Istanbul but he also had a big impact that night against Olympiacos. He was very good at making the right changes. Taking off Traore and bringing on Pongolle was bold but it worked. Scoring so early in the second half was massive for us because it got the crowd going as we attacked the Kop. When Mellor came on and scored too, it was all set up for a dramatic finish. We just needed that third goal.
Neil Mellor celebrates the goal that put Liverpool 2-1 up on the night (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
The build-up
Just four minutes were left when Liverpool launched another attack down their left-hand flank. After a throw-in deep in Olympiacos territory, Carragher slings in a cross which Mellor — stationed just inside the penalty area — heads into clear space just outside the D.
Mellor: What was Carra doing on the left wing? He dinks it up to me and centre-forwards have options — to flick it on, maybe get hold of it, try and twist and turn and get a shot away or lay it off. I decided to lay it off and I had two options. John Arne Riise or Stevie. Riise was left-footed and his right foot, which I would have set him up on, is one in a hundred of getting a shot on target. Stevie was always the preferred option!
It’s an instinct. Quickly you work out what the options are and what the best one is. It felt right at the time. I just needed to put it in that space in front of him because he’s in the best position to get a shot away.
Carragher: What was I doing on the left wing? I honestly don’t have a clue. I just remember coming forward and latching on to a loose ball after they had half cleared and then doing a Cruyff turn to get away from their player which took me out wide. When I looked up I could see Neil Mellor moving into space and just clipped it towards him. His touch was brilliant — the perfect nod down and the greatest assist of his career.
The strike
Nobody is expecting what comes next — not least the director of the television footage. Viewers are watching a shot of anxious-looking Liverpool fans in the crowd before the feed flicks back to Mellor heading the ball down towards Gerrard.
Liverpool’s captain seizes his moment. He notices the ball dropping in his direction and, without taking his eyes off it, charges forward. He covers the distance in six strides and arrives as the ball is just completing its second bounce. With his left foot planted on the ground, he cocks his right leg and meets it flush on the half-volley, from around 24 yards.
Nunez: I was stood to his right. As soon as it left his boot, you just knew it was flying into the corner. No ‘keeper was ever going to save that. There was so much power behind it. The noise was so loud.
It was the kind of thing that only Stevie could do. His career was full of incredible goals and that one is right up there. He made the impossible possible. In difficult moments he always appeared and delivered like a true captain.
Chris Kirkland, Liverpool goalkeeper: It was beautiful. You see the build-up and as the ball is moving down into their half, you advance a little bit out of your area so you are watching the play. Then when it gets near the opposition box you are just praying that someone’s going to put it in the net. And we couldn’t have wished for anyone better for that ball to fall to.
I was right behind it, I could see him unwinding. As soon as it hit his foot I just knew where it was going because I saw it that many times in training and other games. But I think that’s one of the purest he’s ever struck.
Mellor: That’s what Stevie had, that moment of brilliance. Not many players could do that, to hit it the way he did. He struck a lovely ball, whether that was a shot or a pass, that concentration, the technique to really get that right and put it where he wanted to. Not many players can do that.
Carragher: When that nod down dropped perfectly into Stevie’s path I was stood there thinking, ‘Yes!’ It couldn’t have dropped to anyone better. It was one of those where you just knew it was in before it had even hit the net. Such an iconic moment.
John Bush, professor of applied mathematics at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and a specialist in fluid dynamics: The Magnus effect is the aerodynamic force acting on a ball in flight that arises due to its spin. So when a player strikes the ball, the Magnus effect affects the flight of all spinning footballs.
For example, the rotation axis of a ball struck from a free-kick is normally vertical, so that the ball bends left or right. Striking a ball with pure topspin means the force is downwards and the ball dips in flight. Gerrard half-volleyed the ball, striking it just as it bounced off the turf. That type of shot allowed him to strike the ball with backspin.
The ball seems to execute two to three rotations during its flight into the net. Backspin (like a sliced shot in tennis) flattens out the trajectory so the shot dips less than it would in the absence of spin, giving the impression of a shot so strong that it defied gravity.
It takes around 0.88 seconds for the ball to strike the net after leaving Gerrard’s boot, meaning its average speed is around 56mph.
Shots have flown quicker than that but few have been struck so unerringly, or with as much precision, and goalkeeper Antonios Nikopolidis can only join the 42,045 crowd in watching it fly past him and into the right-hand corner.
Mellor: I stupidly stood still on the edge of the box and celebrated as if Gerrard would wait for me, and he just sort of pushed me out of the way and winded me. By the time I got to the celebrations in the corner of the Kop, I was like the last man there because I was out of breath from being winded.
Warnock: Stevie was the only player who could score a goal like that, because he had the confidence and courage to hit it from that distance. I’d seen it so often, not just in training, but most games! Most players would turn it down and not even bother hitting it, but he had the confidence to execute it. More often than not he did.
Rob Jones, Liverpool fan: I was sitting in row 21 of the Kop, right behind the goal that Gerrard scored in. As soon as he struck it you could see it was in and everybody just went mental.
It was one of the great European nights at Anfield. The best ones seem to be where we have a mountain to climb and score late goals to win. I’ve been fortunate to see many of them from Saint-Etienne (in 1977), to Chelsea in the semi-final (in 2005), more recently against Borussia Dortmund (2016) and of course Barcelona (2019). They had all the ingredients.
Nikopolidis: It was an amazing performance from a great footballer. I don’t remember the technique but it was definitely a goal that deprived the team of qualifying for the next phase. I have nothing more to say.
🚨 EXTREMELY RARE FOOTAGE 🚨
Steven Gerrard vs Olympiakos 2005
I’ve added the commentary in to give that little extra pop! 😂😜
Enjoy! #LFC #Gerrard pic.twitter.com/18oPWPhlNq— Jay Pearson (@JimmyCully) September 29, 2024
On the television gantry, Sky Sports’ Tyler only has time to scream ‘Gerrraaarrrddd!’ before his co-commentator, Andy Gray, takes over and delivers the line which has become inextricably linked to this moment: “You beauty! What a hit, son! What a hit!”
Tyler: Andy and I had a great working relationship. It was little bit the opposite of how a commentator and co-commentator should work. Andy was a very passionate co-commentator and I suppose I was the voice of reason.
I managed to get Gerrard’s name out which I’m pleased with, but he took over, and thoroughly deserved to. The way he went about his work, with his passion for football. It was a great moment for a former Everton player! There’s always a feeling that Liverpool are never done and if it was going to happen, perhaps it was going to be Gerrard.
A long time after Sergio Aguero scored the title winner for Manchester City (in 2012), I said to him: “I knew you would score before you did”. As a commentator, you’re factoring in the touch and the quality of the player. But I couldn’t say the same about Gerrard, because from that distance, so late into the game and with so much riding on it, there was a possibility it could have gone out of the ground!
The aftermath
Olympiacos are a beaten team and the remaining minutes pass by largely without incident, to a soundtrack of the Kop bellowing Gerrard’s name.
Mellor: The noise was unbelievable, the loudest I experienced as a player being on the pitch. The fans believed and we couldn’t have done it without them. It’s nice that it meant so much to Stevie because he scored some brilliant goals for Liverpool, but he remembers that one as an iconic goal for himself as well.
Nunez: I was fortunate enough to play with many special players. At Real Madrid, I had Ronaldo, (Zinedine) Zidane, Raul, (Luis) Figo and Roberto Carlos as team-mates. Stevie belonged in the same class as them. They were above the rest — it was like they were playing a different game to the rest.
Steven Gerrard celebrates victory over Olympiacos (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Stevie was the most complete player I’ve seen. He could play anywhere on the pitch. So strong in challenges, so good in the air, so good with his passes and so good when it came to finishing. Great quality and a big work ethic. He was such a leader.
This may have been the defining moment of Liverpool’s season, but it did not presage a swaggering return to form. Benitez’s side were beaten at Everton in their next match and ultimately finished fifth, below their city rivals.
In Europe, however, the touchpaper had been lit. Bayer Leverkusen and Juventus were swatted aside to set up a last four meeting with Chelsea. An away rearguard and one ‘ghost goal’ later — the term Jose Mourinho used to refer to Luis Garcia’s Anfield winner — the stage was set for Istanbul. There, just as improbably, Milan were dragged back to parity after racing into a 3-0 first-half lead, with Gerrard’s brilliant header kickstarting the comeback. He also scored in the penalty shootout to complete a rescue mission that had its roots at Anfield on that December evening five months previously.
Even then, Gerrard’s future was not assured — he came close to joining Chelsea that summer — but he ultimately opted to stay to join the pantheon of Anfield’s one-club legends.
Tyler: I remember Gerrard saying before the game that he didn’t want to wake up and be playing in the UEFA Cup. And he came up with the moment that settled it. Without it there would have been no Istanbul. Sometimes people don’t equate the two because they are both special moments, but they’re connected.
Jones: You dread to think what might have happened if Gerrard hadn’t scored. I was worried about the idea of him leaving. No player is more important than the club but at that time Liverpool were struggling and the sale of Gerrard, who was the main man, would have cast doubt on the ambition. Selling him to a rival club would have made it even worse.
Kirkland: I believe things are written in the stars and that was another moment that was written in the stars for Liverpool and for Stevie.
Carragher: What would have happened if Stevie had hit that shot the other side of the post?
Would he have left the club the following summer? Who would Liverpool have spent the money on to replace him? What about Rafa? Without that night, how long would he have lasted? It throws up a lot of questions. There would have been no semi-final against Chelsea, no historic fightback in Istanbul.
Talk about a sliding doors moment. That night proved to be life-changing for us.
Additional reporting: Andy Jones, Caoimhe O’Neill
(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
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