Shevchenko also danced after a goal near the corner flag, but his goal against Liverpool was disallowed by the referee, who called offside.

In the next attack, Baros headed the ball down to Garcia, but he shot hard and inaccurate from the edge of the penalty area.

Then a rather controversial moment occurred in the game. Garcia was through one-on-one with Dida, but Maldini didn't let himself be beaten, though it seemed he played the ball with his hand, but the referee signaled play on and Liverpool conceded a goal 30 seconds later…

After a long pass from Kaka, the ball ended up with Shevchenko, who passed it to Crespo, who only had to hit the target and he did – 2:0.

Four minutes after the second goal, Liverpool fell apart. Kaka sliced through Liverpool's defense like a knife, setting up Crespo for a one-on-one with Dudek and the Argentine elegantly chipped the goalkeeper, making the score 3:0. It seemed that for the team from the Foggy Albion, this was the end. Their fans seemed to think so too, being in an even greater knockout than the players.

The start of the second half again showed the Rossoneri's determination to fight. Shevchenko nearly increased the score with a free-kick, but the Ukrainian national team forward's shot was caught by Dudek.

Then true fantasy began on the pitch performed by Liverpool, which can be called "resurrection from the dead." Already in the 53rd minute, Gerrard after a long pass from Riise headed into the top corner of the goal to make the score 3:1. Two minutes later, the players spurred on by the fans reduce the gap to a minimum. Smicer, approaching the edge of the penalty area, unexpectedly fired into the far corner of Dida's goal, who could only fly in the direction of the ball that ended up in the net.

That wasn't the end of Milan's collapse. In one of the numerous English attacks, Gattuso pulled Smicer's shirt in the penalty area, and he fell to the ground. Penalty. Alonso stepped up to take the referee's verdict. Dida parried the Liverpool player's first shot, but couldn't hold the ball in his hands and Alonso scored on the rebound – 3:3.

Three goals in seven minutes! In the remaining minutes until the end of regulation time, neither team managed to score. Riise had a good chance to score for Liverpool, but his long and powerful shot was saved by Dida, and Shevchenko's shot into an empty net after Dudek's error was cleared off the goal line by Traore.

In the first additional 15-minute period, both teams no longer played such reckless football, not only because of caution about conceding a goal, but also because of fatigue.

The second 15-minute period also passed in more or less even fighting. Despite everything, Andriy Shevchenko could have brought victory to his team in extra time. After a cross from Serginho, the Ukrainian headed the ball under the crossbar, but Dudek parried the ball in front of himself and Shevchenko tried to stab the ball into the goal with an additional shot from two meters, but again Dudek was at his best, miraculously turning Shevchenko's shot behind for a corner.

Then came the penalties, which Liverpool won with a score of 5:6. To the English team's three successful strikes, Milan responded with only two. Liverpool didn't even need to take the fifth kick. The last kick for Milan was taken by Shevchenko, but the hero of the post-match series, Dudek, saved it. Two years ago, it was Shevchenko's shot that brought Milan victory in the Champions League final... Now Shevchenko has become the main disappointment of the Italian tifosi.

For Liverpool, the current Champions League victory became the fifth in the club's history in this tournament.

Champions League. Final.

"Milan" (Italy) - "Liverpool" (England) - 3:3 (3:0), on penalties 5:6 Goals: Maldini 1, Crespo 38, 42, Gerrard 54, Smicer 56, Alonso 60 Milan: Dida, Cafu, Maldini, Nesta, Stam, Gattuso (Rui Costa 121), Seedorf (Serginho 86), Pirlo, Kaka, Shevchenko, Crespo (Tomasson 85). Liverpool: Dudek, Finnan (Hamann 45), Hyypia, Riise, Traore, Carragher, Gerrard, Garcia, Alonso, Kewell (Smicer 23), Baros (Cisse 85).

Post-match penalty series: "Milan": Serginho (wide of the goal), Pirlo (goalkeeper), Tomasson (4:5), Kaka (5:5), Shevchenko (goalkeeper) "Liverpool": Hamann (3:4), Cisse (3:5), Riise (goalkeeper), Smicer (5:6).