The Liverpool match Steven Gerrard once played in which he claims was 'just as difficult' as Champions League final in Istanbul
03/28/2025 03:00 PM
Steven Gerrard’s Liverpool career has been littered with special moments.
The Red legend is in the conversation for Liverpool’s greatest ever player along with Mohamed Salah and Kenny Dalglish, with many of a certain generation believing that the former midfielder undisputedly holds that title.
The 2004/05 campaign is a season where Gerrard’s legacy at Liverpool went to a new level, with that moment against Olympiakos in the Champions League being one every Reds fan looks back on before going all the way to lift the Merseyside club’s fifth European Cup.
The midfielder started the comeback on that famous night in Istanbul and it was a victory that prevented Gerrard from joining Chelsea for the season after.
That Liverpool team made hard work of winning that final in Turkey, but Gerrard has since named another game that he believes was equally as hard.
Steven Gerrard names Liverpool game that was equal to Istanbul
The season after Liverpool’s Champions League triumph, the Merseyside outfit reached the final of the FA Cup, where they found themselves 3-2 down heading into added time.
The contest proved a tough one for Liverpool and it required one of the best goals Gerrard scored in his entire career to save the Merseyside club with 91 minutes on the clock.
The Reds would go on to win the final on penalties and after the contest, the former midfielder stated that the game was just as hard as the final against AC Milan in Istanbul one year earlier, when asked if it was the spirit of Istanbul that got Rafael Benitez’s team over the line.
“I think so. It was just as difficult as Istanbul,” Gerrard told Sky Sports. “Credit to West Ham, a fantastic team, really dangerous on the counter attack and, you know, we just stuck in there, and we knew that of it went to penalties, with Reina in goal, we had a fantastic chance of winning.
“We’ve got a great team, Geoff. The Champions League experience has made us all stronger, and you’re hoping that no matter how many goals we go down, we’ll keep fighting to the end.”
The 2006 FA Cup final for many is Gerrard’s greatest game in a Liverpool shirt, however, there are others that give it a bit of a run for its money.
Was the 2006 FA Cup final Steven Gerrard’s greatest Liverpool moment?
When it comes to the greatest moment or game Gerrard had in a Liverpool shirt, the topic can create a lot of debate amongst Liverpool fans.
The midfielder’s hat-trick against Everton in 2012 gets brought up, as well as Gerrard’s performance against Real Madrid in 2009, and his Olympiakos wondergoal are amongst the conversation.
The Liverpool legend’s greatest night will always be the one in Istanbul, but when it comes to a performance and the moment of the late goal against West Ham, it is hard to argue that the FA Cup final was not Gerrard’s best game in a red shirt.
His teammates were out on their feet as West Ham looked certain to lift the FA Cup that day and the midfielder’s wonder strike not only took them to extra-time, but gave the rest of the Merseyside club’s squad the boost they needed to make it to the end.
