Twenty years have passed since Gerard Houllier’s Liverpool completed an unprecedented treble.
Borussia Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion was the setting for an extraordinary UEFA Cup final against Spanish minnows Alaves on May 16, 2001. A golden goal late in extra-time clinched a 5-4 victory as Liverpool celebrated their first European trophy since 1984.
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Houllier’s side had started that week by adding the FA Cup to the February’s League Cup triumph, courtesy of Michael Owen’s late double against Arsenal in Cardiff. They ended it by thrashing Charlton Athletic on the final day of the Premier League season to secure Champions League qualification for the first time.
“It was superhuman,” says assistant manager Phil Thompson of what was a marathon 63-game campaign. “What we achieved that year was incredible.”
“If I could go back to any period in my career and relive it again, it would be the months of April and May 2001,” says then-defender Jamie Carragher. “Pressure games every three days. Trophies on the line. Winning.”
“I count myself lucky that I was alive at that time,” says that team’s goalkeeper, Sander Westerveld.
The 20th anniversary of the treble is especially poignant given that Houllier passed away at the age of 73 in December. He made Liverpool a force to be reckoned with once again on the European stage.
What was it that propelled that team to such glory? How did a side lauded for their defensive strength that season end up being involved in such a crazy, chaotic, goal-filled final?
The Athletic has spoken to several of Houllier’s players and staff to tell that story. From the “masterstroke” summer signing to the runway drama in Germany and their manager’s strict orders about keeping the Champagne on ice.
There’s also insight from the Alaves camp, including from Delfi Geli, who had the misfortune of scoring the golden goal own goal when a penalty shootout was looming.
Alaves had surpassed all expectations in reaching their first major final and then threatened to spoil the party by fighting back from 3-1 and 4-3 down.
This is how Houllier’s Liverpool wrote history.
Interviewees
Rick Parry, Liverpool CEO
Thompson, Liverpool assistant manager
Carragher
Gregory Vignal
Didi Hamann
Robbie Fowler
Sander Westerveld
Markus Babbel
Danny Murphy
Erik Meijer
Delfi Geli
Jordi Cruyff
Cosmin Contra
In the summer of 2000, it had been 10 years since Liverpool’s previous league title triumph.
The 1990s had been relatively barren with just one FA Cup and one League Cup added to the Anfield trophy cabinet. Arch-rivals Manchester United had taken over as the dominant force in English football. Houllier’s first two seasons in charge had yielded seventh and fourth-placed finishes in the Premier League as he oversaw a major overhaul of the squad and modernised the club.
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Rick Parry: “Gerard and I sat down at the training camp and discussed what mattered most to Liverpool. The club had not yet featured in the Champions League since it ceased being the European Cup. This meant we were at a financial disadvantage and ultimately, it made the challenge of becoming English champions again a lot greater.
“Gerard understood that but I can remember him stressing the importance of becoming a club that won silverware again. The club’s last trophy was in 1995 and for Liverpool, five years was too long. Gerard was a meticulous planner. He understood that you can condition the players to believe it was possible and base your team selections around winning each competition you enter.
“Even from the early rounds of the League Cup, Gerard chose strong starting XIs. The team that famously beat Stoke 8-0 in the fourth round of the League Cup included Stephane Henchoz, Sami Hyypia, Jamie Carragher, Markus Babbel, Vladimir Smicer, Danny Murphy, Gary McAllister and Robbie Fowler. Across the course of that season, Danny played the fewest number of games in total — 47 and Markus played the most, 60 in total. It was a long, brutal season for everyone.”
Jamie Carragher: “At that stage of my career, I only cared about myself. I wasn’t thinking about the trophies we might win. Markus Babbel and Christian Ziege had signed and their arrivals increased the competition in the squad massively. They felt like big signings. Both had won the Euros. They knew how to achieve success.
“I was concerned I might not play. I was going to have to fight for my life. The season before had gone well. I’d played every game but we’d missed out on Champions League football so it was clear we needed to improve. Gerard Houllier got criticised after that disappointment for suggesting that not qualifying for the Champions League might prove to be a blessing in disguise but on reflection, he was probably right.”
Eyebrows were raised when Houllier signed 35-year-old Gary McAllister on a free transfer from Coventry City.
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Parry: “Gary was my first signing as chief executive. Gerard, Phil and I were sitting together — I think at Gerard’s apartment — when he told us that he wanted to bring him in. Phil and I looked at each other with the sort of look that says, ‘Well that’s interesting’. Gerard explained to us that he thought he’d be a positive influence on the younger players. He had lots of Premier League experience and wouldn’t need any time to settle in. Just as important in Gerard’s mind was Gary’s delivery from set pieces. It was a stroke of genius from Gerard.
“People forget Gary had a difficult start. He was sent off against Arsenal in the opening weeks of the season and sadly, his wife became poorly. In the second half of the season, he was phenomenal, though. I’ll never forget the day Gary came and signed. His agent was Struan Marshall, who also took care of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. Gerard left me and Struan in the old Melwood pavilion while he gave Gary a tour. Gary turned back and told Struan, ‘Get the deal done… we won’t be long looking around here… I’m signing’. Later, at Anfield, Gary said to me that he’d like to ask just one more thing before he signed the contract. I thought, ‘Oh no, here we go, he’s going to renegotiate’. Instead, he just wanted to touch the This Is Anfield sign and look at the pitch. It showed you how enthusiastic he was. You’d expect that from an 18-year-old but not someone who has already been there, seen it and done it.”
Phil Thompson: “When Gerard first said to me we had the chance to sign Gary I said, ‘OK, but we’re assembling a new vibrant young team, won’t that change the dynamic? Won’t the fans look at it as a backwards step?’ Gerard said, ‘I just think the young boys need a little bit of guidance and Gary is perfect to do that’. I loved Gary’s attitude from day one. He said he wasn’t coming to babysit everyone and sit on the bench, he wanted to play. His experience and professionalism was brilliant for us.”
Carragher: “We shared the same agent but we didn’t know each other well. His signing was a masterstroke by Gerard. It’s very hard for a manager to sign a player who is going to fit in straight away but with the understanding he’s going to be a squad player. What he did instead was force his way in over the course of the season.
“I’d played against him the season before when he was at Coventry. I played centre midfield that day and I can remember Gerard saying to me before the game, ‘He’s running on diesel while you’re on petrol’. Gerard had this way of putting things that gave you confidence. He must have thought very highly of Gary obviously but he didn’t want me thinking that. As a squad, we didn’t have much experience. Most of the players were in their early 20s. Gary was a good 10 years older than most of us. But he mixed easily. He became a very important figure.”
Gregory Vignal joined from French club Montpellier at the end of September…
Vignal: “I decided to sign for Liverpool because of Gerard Houllier. When he approached me, I decided straight away to come to Liverpool. I had offers from Barcelona, Celta Vigo and Paris Saint-Germain. Gerard invited me to see him in Paris so I travelled from Montpellier by train with my girlfriend. I knew even before I met him that I would say yes.
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“I loved English football because of Eric Cantona. Gerard spoke about the DNA of Liverpool being an important mix of local players and the best young foreign players. He was changing the way the players worked — the way they ate and the amount of rest they had. I could play left-back, as a winger or in the centre of midfield. Gerard liked me because he felt I had the physicality to deal with the one v one situations in England. Unfortunately, I got injured just after I joined Liverpool. This created a situation at left-back and the manager chose Carra to play there.”
Carragher: “People associate my season with the left-back position but the manager only started playing me there partway through it. I’d played in midfield earlier on in the campaign and I’d captained the team for the first time. Though Markus Babbel became the right-back, he’d initially played more as a centre-back — which I think was his favoured position.
“My move to left-back came after we played Olympiakos in the UEFA Cup. We went to Newcastle and before the game, Stevie and I were talking about which one of us would play left-back. Stevie thought it might be him and I think he was a bit relieved when I got the call. We lost at Newcastle but Gerard decided to stick with me there. We kept six clean sheets in the next seven games. Gerard never explained to me why he decided to use me there.
“In training, Phil Thompson took the defenders and I worked a bit on my left foot. Fundamentally, they wanted me to be solid. When I’d played as a right-back, I could tell the fans were a bit frustrated because I didn’t get forward that much. I wasn’t an athletic player. A bit less was expected of me as a left-back because I wasn’t left-footed. My responsibility first and foremost was to get it right defensively.”
Liverpool’s path to the UEFA Cup final was laced with danger. After overcoming Rapid Bucharest, Slovan Liberec and Olympiakos, they faced Fabio Capello’s Roma in the last 16. After a stunning 2-0 win in the Eternal City, Liverpool survived a nervy night in the return leg at Anfield. Porto were beaten in the quarter-finals and then McAllister’s penalty proved enough to get past Barcelona. Liverpool kept clean sheets away to Roma, Porto and Barcelona. The Spanish press accused Houllier of “betraying football” with his defensive tactics. “They kept the ball, but we kept the result,” the Frenchman responded.
Hamann: “We did it the hard way. Winning in Rome when Michael scored twice was a brilliant European away performance. Capello’s team won Serie A that season. We lost at home 1-0 and we had a bit of luck when the referee initially gave a penalty for handball and then changed his mind and gave a corner instead. That was the power of the Kop! In the semis, we didn‘t concede in 180 minutes against Barcelona who had Pep Guardiola, Rivaldo and Patrick Kluivert playing for them.
“We could suck the life out of teams and nullify them. There was some criticism about the style but it was all about getting the job done. We used to joke in the dressing room after games that we’d dragged teams down to our level.”
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Carragher: “The victory in Rome gave us the confidence to go and get a result anywhere. There is something about Rome as a city. I roomed with Michael and I can remember opening the hotel window. The sun was shining and it was warm. In the distance somewhere, I could hear the Liverpool supporters singing but I couldn’t see them. I think about that moment a lot for some reason. Games in the Olympic Stadium, of course, are special. Liverpool had won two European Cups in that ground and winning there made us think we were capable of delivering when it mattered. Gerard had total control of the team at this point but the victory in Rome made everyone trust him 100 per cent.”
Thompson: “We were labelled as a counter-attacking team as if it was a bad thing. These days hitting teams on the counter with pace and precision is regarded as a real skill. It’s a badge of honour.”
Robbie Fowler: “It was a big ambition of Houllier’s to get the club back competing for the big prizes on the European stage. Liverpool hadn’t won a European trophy since 1984. We all wanted to push on and test ourselves against the best teams in Europe. People can argue we were lucky against Roma at home but we put in an unbelievable performance over there in the first leg. I think of Michael’s goals in Rome and Gary Mac’s penalty at home to Barca. It was a tough run. It was the first time Alaves had got to a final and we were big favourites.”
Sander Westerveld: “When people say, ‘It was only Alaves in the final’ they forget about the run we had to get there. It was like a Champions League campaign. Our defence was so strong. Sami (Hyypia) and Stephane (Henchoz) made it easy for me. You need to have confidence in the defence in front of you and I certainly had that with those two. I was lucky to be alive at that time. Houllier was in the middle of changing the whole club and I was fortunate that he wanted to bring me in. It could have been difficult to adapt with a new keeper and two new centre-backs but from the first day, Sami was amazing. He took a lot of the load off my back.
“Sami’s impact on Liverpool was similar to what happened with Virgil van Dijk. People would say, ‘He’s a good goalkeeper but we haven’t seen him do much!’ Sometimes I’d come off after games without a drop of sweat on me because the back four were so good.”
Liverpool lifted the League Cup in February after a dramatic victory over second division Birmingham City on penalties at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Westerveld was the hero in the shootout as he saved spot-kicks by Martin Grainger and Andy Johnson.
Westerveld: “I came to Liverpool to win prizes. It was my dream club from when I was growing up. I realised that dream when I signed for them and I was desperate to be successful. There was a huge personal satisfaction in saving those penalties against Birmingham. Win one, you get a taste for it, it drives you on again. I don’t think the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup would have followed if we hadn’t won that first final. You need some luck along the way.”
Thompson: “The run we went on really started from the second leg of the League Cup semi-final in January when we beat Crystal Palace 5-0. When we played Birmingham, Gerard was emphasising the importance of winning that first trophy. He knew that it would give everyone the hunger to get more.
“There was no time to rest. We didn’t have a squad the size of Liverpool’s today. It was a challenge to manage everything. We were still going for the Champions League spot as well. It meant we couldn’t ever relax. It was intense but it was so enjoyable. It was success. Big game after big game.
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“The derby win at Goodison was massive. We’d come off the back of losing to Leeds at home who were our rivals for the Champions League spot. We went 2-1 up but then Igor Biscan got sent off. Jeff Winter gave them a soft penalty for a foul by Sami Hyypia on Duncan Ferguson that not even the Everton fans could see. At 2-2 with 10 men you think you’ll have to hang on for a point. When Gary’s free kick hit the net, it was pure elation. Gerard’s face on the touchline was an absolute picture. The belief that win at Goodison gave us for the rest of the season was huge. It gave us such a push.”
Carragher: “Across two weeks in April, we played Sunday, Tuesday, Friday, Monday, Thursday, Sunday. Gerard wasn’t happy about the scheduling of the Tuesday game, which was away at Ipswich. They were doing well that season and a draw wasn’t a bad result but it seemed like a worse result than it was after we lost to Leeds at home.
“This put enormous pressure on the Everton game three days later. It felt like we had to win. At the final whistle, the feeling was incredible. I went out that night even though we weren’t supposed to. I had to celebrate a Liverpool victory over Everton in those circumstances. I ended up with my mates in the Bedford in Bootle. We had Barcelona a few days later at home and I didn’t start the game well. A few misplaced passes. I think the manager knew I’d been out. He started speaking about my ‘refuelling habits’.”
Hamann: “It was gruelling. We were playing every three days but it was a pretty young team and we loved it. We’d do a warm down the day after a game, then a 45-minute session the following day and then it was game day again.
“For me, it all started really with the last-minute winner at Goodison in April when Gary McAllister scored that free kick from 35 yards. That was the springboard. We only dropped two points in our last seven league games and won the FA Cup and UEFA Cup finals. What a signing Gary was.”
Vignal: “It is the French philosophy to be ready tactically first. We are risk-averse. Gerard tried to mix the cultures. His idea was very simple but it made sense. If we kept a clean sheet, we’d end up winning games because we had players in attack that had the ability to score goals. Michael Owen was not just the best striker but the best player in the world. He won the Ballon d’Or. He was so quick and clever between the lines.
“During this season, everybody believed in the manager. There was an incredible spirit, a mix of English, French and German. I lived in Woolton Village with Markus and Sander and we socialised a lot, though I wish now my English was better. Sometimes I missed my lessons because I was so tired from training. We were well organised and this required a lot of physical and emotional concentration.”
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Babbel: “Gerard Houllier was very important for Liverpool. Many English players loved to go out partying and drinking. I always said he was like a lovely little Napoleon. Gerard was strict and focused on discipline. We had a good side, 13 or 14 players. We could beat anyone on our day but you needed better players from 14 to 20 in order to win a league. We didn’t have that depth.”
Danny Murphy: “I don’t think we realised when we were doing it, what we were doing. We were just enjoying it so much. We had loads of creativity and goals. The rotation was good, the attitude was good. No one was moaning about not playing all the time. There was a nice balance with young lads and senior boys. There was a great work ethic and we had a bit of luck along the way too. The longer it went, the more we felt we were going to do it (the treble).
“I owe a lot to Houllier. One of the strengths was that the manager and all his staff worked on the same page. There was never anyone telling you something different. All young players need some help and guidance. I needed to look after myself better, be more dedicated and fitter, and Houllier put me on the right track.”
Parry: “We had to play six games in 14 days and Gerard, understandably, wasn’t happy. We travelled to London to complain about the schedule and he suggested extending the season. Instead, we had to go to Barcelona before an FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park against Wycombe, then play Ipswich Town.
“The game that Gerard wanted moving was Ipswich, which we ended up drawing. I was concerned that the complaints might get inside the heads of the players and make them think everything was too much with them. Losing to Leeds felt like a kick in the guts and I began to wonder whether the efforts of the season were beginning to catch up with us.
“It was the middle of April and including the Everton fixture, we still had 10 games left. After Everton, there was the second leg of the UEFA Cup semi-final with Barcelona at Anfield. Quite a week. The circumstances of the win over Everton gave us another shot of adrenaline. After the game, we drove back to Melwood in the bus and Gerard invited me into his office where he opened a bottle of Champagne. This isn’t something Gerard tended to do. It was his way of saying. ‘We’re back’.”
Liverpool’s marathon season came down to a high-stakes week in mid-May. The FA Cup final on the Saturday against Arsenal was followed by the UEFA Cup final against Alaves on the Wednesday. Three days later, there was a must-win final league game against Charlton Athletic if they were going to secure Champions League qualification.
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Parry: “The FA Cup final was played in incredible heat and we were outplayed. Patrick Vieira was magnificent. Even though we somehow won the game, Gerard was adamant that celebrations should be kept to a minimum and that meant no drinking. Everyone had to abide by that, even staff and board members. Gerard thought it was important that if you represented Liverpool you were all in it together and that meant keeping to the same standards and rules.”
Hamann: “There wasn’t much of a celebration in Cardiff because we had another massive final just a few days away. A European trophy was what we all wanted. We knew that if we played to our level then we would beat them. People expected us to win. We’d knocked out Barca, who were way ahead of Alaves in La Liga. But we knew Alaves posed a threat going forward. They’d beaten Kaiserslautern by a cricket score (9-2 on aggregate) in the semis. Two of their players, Cosmin Contra and Javi Moreno, earned moves to AC Milan that summer.”
Fowler: “Everything about that week was brilliant. People talk about fatigue but when you get to the business end of the season you want to be playing big games all the time because it means you’re successful. Going all the way in the three cups meant we played every game we possibly could have done that season.”
Westerveld: “I remember Alaves sent tickets back because they couldn’t sell their full allocation. Liverpool fans are like the Dutch at major tournaments — they always get their hands on tickets. There was a small section of Alaves fans in the corner behind the goal but the rest of the stadium was red. Walking out in Dortmund was the most amazing feeling.”
Former Liverpool striker Erik Meijer, who had left to join Hamburg the previous year, was among the 40,000-strong red army in Dortmund.
Meijer: “What a day that was! I was injured. I’d ripped the ligaments in my right ankle. I called Sander Westerweld and asked him to arrange four tickets for me. I took the physio who had helped me and two of my best friends. We drove to Dortmund. There was no traffic so we were much too early. We parked the car next to the stadium and walked into the city.
“As we came to the square, my friends all had Liverpool shirts on with ‘Meijer’ on the back. I had the same shirt on but with a jacket over it. One of my pals went to the bar and ordered a beer. A Scouser came up to him and asked where he’d got that shirt with Meijer on the back. He said, ‘From him’ and pointed at me. From that moment on, I was with the Liverpool fans. I must have drunk 15 pints. I sang every song. I went to the stadium half-drunk and watched a marvellous 5-4 win. A day I will never forget.
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“Football is like a religion in Liverpool and I get goosebumps every time I hear You’ll Never Walk Alone. I always gave everything I had when I played there. The reality was that Owen, Heskey and Fowler were better than me so I had to leave to play football. The fans sang my song, ‘He’s big, he’s red, he’s off his fucking head, Erik Meijer’. It was the truth! I enjoyed that song so much. I take it with me for as long as I live. They were always very good to me.”
Alaves fan Inigo Exposito Saez de Ibarra: “It took us 17 hours to get from Vitoria to Dortmund. We went by bus for four hours to Hendaye on the border with France and Spain and then took a train to Dortmund, which took 13 hours. We had beds but I didn’t sleep at all. We sang through the night, we were so proud of our team. We arrived in Dortmund on the morning of the game and spent the day in the city. I cannot recall one bad word between us and Liverpool fans, the atmosphere was magnificent. We were so proud to represent our small city. Athletic and Real Sociedad, who are also from the Basque Country, had played in Europe before. This was about Alaves from Vitoria, a city where basketball was the most popular sport. The names of all the socios – 12,000 of us – were woven into the shirt for the final.”
Villareal defender Delfi Geli: “We had a very good team, a group of friends. We’d go for a meal every Thursday night and sometimes it went on a little late. The manager got to find out and I think he was a little confused. How could we go out so late and keep winning? We were relaxed and confident and that came from our results.
“Alaves finished sixth the previous season straight after promotion, the highest ever finish for and meant we played European football for the first time. We did well in Europe and were fine in the league – mid-table. We knocked out Inter Milan and Kaiserslautern. Nobody expected that. We enjoyed the experience of travelling around Europe, playing and winning these games. It was new for most of us and then we met Liverpool in the final. It was the first final in the entire history of Alaves. We felt the whole city of Vitoria behind us.”
Jordi Cruyff: “We had something special at Alaves. In the UEFA Cup, we travelled to Milan for the away game in our own clothes because there were no club suits. The Italian media were waiting for us at the airport, but they didn’t recognise us, so we sent fans to do interviews with them and pretend they were players. We played Kaiserslautern in the semis. I remember that my father’s team had struggled against them in the 1992 European Cup, Barca’s first. Alaves didn’t struggle. We absolutely hammered them — beat them 5-1 at home and 4-1 away. People reading this won’t believe it, but we thought we were favourites against Liverpool. We’d beaten big teams in Europe that season.”
Parry: “Ahead of the final in Dortmund, we landed in Cologne. I remember the bus picking us up on the tarmac and driving down the runway just as another plane was coming into land, flying over our heads. It was a scary moment. We also had an issue on our way to the game. The coach was halfway to the ground when a policeman on a bike lost control and crashed. Then, as we steered in towards the stadium, the driver got us stuck at the entrance. We couldn’t move forwards or backwards and for 10 minutes we couldn’t move. It was far from ideal.”
Carragher: “On the coach before the game, it was very quiet. Usually, the players would be sitting upright, focusing on what was to come. But we were tired mentally after the FA Cup final. It felt like we were all slouching. Alaves had beaten Inter Milan on the way to the final but we didn’t have much info about them aside from a few video clips. I think if we were better prepared physically, we’d have won the game comfortably.”
Houllier made just one change to the starting line-up from Cardiff with McAllister recalled in midfield in place of Vladimir Smicer.
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Thompson: “Gerard had it all planned out. He felt we needed more energy in the middle of the park for the Arsenal game and that Gary’s experience and ability to keep possession would be more important against Alaves. At that stage of Gary’s career and with the conditions, the feeling was that he could only start one of the two finals. He had a massive impact towards the end of that season. It was Gary Mac’s season.
“We had done our homework on Alaves with scouting reports and watched a lot of videos of them. I’d gone through all the tapes and picked out their strengths and weaknesses. Alaves were a decent outfit. They had surprised a lot of people in getting to the final. Going into the game I think it was Johan Cruyff who said it was going to be one of the most boring finals ever. Everyone was saying it would be 0-0 and go to penalties. It turned out to be one of the most astonishing finals ever.”
Liverpool got off to a flyer with Babbel nodding home McAllister’s free kick inside four minutes. It was soon 2-0 as Gerrard rifled home an inviting pass from Owen.
Parry: “Babbel was another key signing. He was a top-quality player and a proven winner. He was very unassuming and brought a calmness to the defence that the other players fed off. He also played a big role in Michael’s equaliser against Arsenal in the FA Cup final and that gets forgotten. There was a really nice mix of lads in the squad. It was always important to Gerard that he signed good people as well as good players.
“You can throw Pegguy Arphexad into that mix. He barely played but he was a popular member of the squad. Gerard decided to sign him because he was a good back-up goalkeeper but he was also a mate of Emile Heskey. Gerard thought Pegguy would help him settle down at Liverpool after his big-money move from Leicester and he did.”
Carragher: “Being a German from Bayern Munich, Babbel brought a winning mentality. You wouldn’t say he was amazing on the ball or particularly quick but he always seemed to know where to be. He was very good in the air. That season, he rarely missed a game and was one of our most reliable players.”
Babbel: “After 16 years at Bayern I’d decided to move in 2000 and it was the best decision. I’d been in touch with Liverpool from 1998 onwards. It was always my dream to play in the Premier League. When Liverpool came in for me I thought, ‘Oh my God, what a club, what a tradition’. I had an offer from Real Madrid to sign for them. I was on the way to the airport in Munich at 6am to fly to Liverpool to sign the contract when I heard on the radio that I was flying to Madrid to sign for Real. I had a smile on my face!
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“Manchester United and Newcastle United also wanted me. But from the moment I first spoke with Liverpool I said to my agent, ‘This is the club, I want to join them’. It was nice for us Germans that the final was in Dortmund. Alaves were not the biggest name, but they had a very strong side. The final was amazing. It was like 10 minutes for us, 10 minutes for them, 20 minutes for us, 20 minutes for them. It was one of the best finals ever. I feel proud to have been part of it.”
Liverpool were running riot. Midway through the first half, Alaves boss Mane took action as he replaced centre-back Dan Eggen with attacker Ivan Alonso and switched from three at the back to a four-man defence. Within four minutes the deficit was halved when Alonso headed in Contra’s cross. Suddenly, Houllier’s side looked ragged with Westerveld called upon to thwart Javi Moreno and Ivan Tomic. They survived and then restored their two-goal lead just before the break. McAllister scored from the spot after Owen had been brought down by Martin Herrera.
Carragher: “The start of the game was fast and it felt easy. Credit to their manager for a big call. It transformed the game. We were knackered and it showed each time they scored a goal. Rather than pointing fingers and trying to sort it out, there was more of a feeling of resignation. It felt like there was nothing we could do about it.”
Geli: “When Liverpool scored twice in the first 15 minutes, we didn’t panic. It was a shock but we still had that confidence in ourselves. We had some very good forwards and we were able to counter-attack.”
Thompson: “What happened? The game went out of control. I think it was a bit of complacency. We were 2-0 up in no time and you’re thinking, ‘We’ll get four or five here’. Then the intensity levels dropped. We allowed them back into the game. They started off with a back three but after we went 2-0 up their manager changed it and went to a flat back four. It was very good tactically from him because it changed the game.”
Hamann: “We showed a side to us that we hadn’t really shown that season. We’d been one of the best around at seeing games out. We could stifle teams and run the clock down. It was poor the way we let them back into it.”
Contra: “It was the most memorable game of my entire career. We made a great game against a great team, but ultimately we lost the cup – that’s what still hurts 20 years later. I had never heard of Alaves before I went there. Yet I felt at home straight away. There was a warmth among the people unlike any I’ve ever seen before. There were not so many foreigners in Vitoria like me so I was a curiosity to them. People would invite me to dinner in the street and sometimes I accepted. The Basque cuisine is the best in Spain, so I never complained.
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“It was the start of a beautiful story. It was a small city and I lived two minutes from the training ground, two minutes from a marvellous dressing room. We succeeded by playing great football. Mane would say, ‘Attack them, don’t be afraid’. But he was very clever too. We knew how to play cynically if needed, with long balls. At other times we played a possession game. We could change that from game to game and within matches. Mane was strong on planning, but he had experienced players who knew when to do what. I didn’t see or hear from a lot of the Alaves players for years but now we have a WhatsApp group and we keep in touch. We speak a lot in this chat.”
Westerveld: “As a goalkeeper, it always felt shit to concede goals. I let in four that night but I got a photo with the trophy and a shiny medal and that’s what really counts. We were cruising at 3-1. At half-time Houllier was saying, ‘This isn’t over, we have to go out and kill the game off’. But maybe in the back of our minds we thought the job was done.”
Moreno struck twice in the opening four minutes of the second half with a glancing header and then a low free kick which went through Liverpool’s wall.
Westerveld: “The free kick was lucky but we were back to square one. We lost concentration. We made the final more difficult than it should have been.”
Thompson: “It was like being on a rollercoaster. You just had to hold tight. You couldn’t get off. There were highs and lows, and you just hoped you’d be happy come the end. It was a phenomenal game. Oh my god, how it ebbed and flowed.”
Houllier made two changes in a bid to wrestle back control. Smicer came on for Henchoz with Babbel shifting to centre-back and Gerrard to right-back. Then Fowler got the nod to replace the tiring Heskey.
Fowler: “Michael and Emile had started the FA Cup final together so it wasn’t a big surprise that I was on the bench again but I was still massively disappointed. Being left out always hurt and even more so when it came to major finals. It wasn’t always easy but I more than played my part that season.
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“I scored in the League Cup final and got the man of the match award. In the FA Cup semi against Wycombe, I got what turned out to be the winner and then I came on in the final against Arsenal when we were 1-0 down. I believed I should be starting but you have to accept that managers go with what they believe is best suited to getting the job done.
“Sat there watching the opening 20 minutes, it looked like we were going to blow them away. Our fans had taken over more than three-quarters of the stadium and it was so loud. It was almost too easy for us and the lads took their foot off the gas a little bit. Next thing our lead had gone and we were in a proper game. I couldn’t wait to get out there.”
Thompson: “Michael was the best player in the country at the time and the leading goalscorer. He was always the number one choice up front that season. We knew that Robbie wanted to play every game but it just wasn’t possible. He would get more upset at not playing than Emile did. But it never influenced our selection. It was a case of picking the right players for the right game.”
Fowler needed just nine minutes to light up the contest. Latching on to McAllister’s pass, he weaved his way into space and produced an emphatic finish into the far corner. With Patrik Berger on for Owen, Liverpool were on the brink of glory. However, in the 89th minute, a corner was swung towards the near post. Westerveld failed to claim and Cruyff’s header made it 4-4.
Fowler: “It was typical of my football career in general. I was so close to scoring the winner that night. The same thing happened to me in the League Cup final too when we conceded late on. I was down to take the fifth penalty in the Champions League semi against Chelsea in 2007 but it didn’t go that far. I was down to take the fifth penalty for England v Spain in Euro 96 at Wembley. Nearly moments. I always felt a bit aggrieved in all honesty. It annoyed me. Maybe that’s just the egotistical side of being a striker. You want to be the hero full stop. But I’d be remembered a lot more if those goals in the finals of the League Cup and the UEFA Cup had proved to be the winners.”
Westerveld: “I know Robbie wrote in his book that he wasn’t happy with me because without my mistake he would have been the hero of the final. I destroyed that but I didn’t make that mistake on purpose. It was a difficult year for Robbie. Thankfully, we managed to still win the final, otherwise I would have got blamed for that moment.
“I had Cruyff in front of me and it was an inswinger to the near post. As a keeper, if you’re behind a player and he jumps you’re always going to be a bit too late. It was impossible to get in front of him. I couldn’t do anything else. The only thing I could have done differently was stand in front of him but then if they had hit the ball to the second post I would have been too late.
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“It’s a difficult one. I did exactly the same at Euro 2000 when Christophe Dugarry got in front of me at the near post. You have to be lucky as a keeper. I felt the full backing of Houllier. Every week he’d speak to me and say I was going to be one of the three best keepers in the world.
“In my first year at Liverpool we had the best defence, we only conceded 30 league goals. In my second year, we won big trophies prizes and I was important in those cup runs. That summer Houllier signed Jerzy Dudek and Chris Kirkland. Everyone was surprised.
“Houllier said I was making too many mistakes. When I pressed him on it, he could only name three or four. I’d played a hundred games so I thought it was harsh. I did an interview after we won the treble saying if I didn’t win anything else in my career I would still have had a successful career. It went downhill from there. I wish I hadn’t said that. I still think he should only have bought one keeper that summer and given me the chance to fight back.”
Cruyff: “That goal was a favour to Manchester United supporters! I would have liked to have won the cup for them too. I had no intention of joining Alaves in 2000. I had a difficult time at Manchester United where I had struggled to settle and didn’t play a lot. When my contract expired I pinned a note up in the dressing room to say goodbye as no other players were there. Mane, the Alaves coach, came to see me at the family home in Barcelona. I didn’t seriously think that I would be joining Alaves. Mane said to me: ‘Jordi, I need a No 9’. I listened to him and told him that I wasn’t a ‘No 9’. His face dropped, but I explained I was a striker best used playing off the front man. Mane looked at me and said, ‘Then I need one of those as well’. He was laughing and I was smiling.
“I played every week. Alaves gave me freedom. I’d been the tail of an elephant at United, at Alaves I was the head. Each Thursday, we’d go out in Vitoria. We’d get really drunk with the basketball players, most of whom had played in the NBA.
“The next day, we’d go to training from the disco at eight in the morning. There was always a queue for the physio, who would put drops in our eyes to whiten them up a bit. Mane would see us and say, ‘I can get pissed off with you or I can look the other way, as we are having a good season and give you light training to get the poison out of your bodies’. He always left the tactics until Saturday.”
Eight minutes into extra time, Alaves were reduced to 10 men when Magno was shown a second yellow card for an awful challenge on Babbel. The Brazilian had earlier been booked for diving. Fowler thought he had won it at the end of the first period when he tucked away Berger’s pass but he was flagged offside.
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Fowler: “It was tight. I thought I was level. Extra time was nervy because with the Golden Goal you knew that one mistake and there wouldn’t be the chance to make amends.”
Thompson: “It was so nerve-wracking and quite traumatic. Every time they attacked, it was in your mind that one slip, one bit of magic, and this dream of a fantastic treble would be taken away from us.”
Carragher: “Their first red card was important because it meant we were able to play extra time with a bit more confidence. We were dead on our feet.”
Parry: “I can’t imagine that Gerard was in favour of the golden goal rule. He was very pro-UEFA but this was a coach’s nightmare. Gerard always liked to think there was a way out of anything — that he could prepare for any eventuality. But with this rule, it was one mistake and you’ve lost. No chance to rebuild. It made extra time more defensive because the managers and teams feared mistakes.”
Hamann: “There were some tired legs and if it had gone to a shootout I think the momentum would have been with them. The greater pressure would have been on us considering the leads we had thrown away.”
Four minutes from the end of extra time Alaves had a second player dismissed as captain Antonio Karmona got a second booking for hauling down Smicer wide on the left. McAllister stepped up and his free kick brushed the head of Geli and flew into the far corner. Cue pandemonium. Fowler and Hyypia lifted the trophy together on the podium. McAllister, who had scored one goal and been instrumental in three of the other four, went up to collect the man of the match award wearing the shirt of unused substitute Nick Barmby having already swapped his own shirt with Cruyff.
Fowler: “When the ball hit the net it was just an incredibly surreal moment. It took a few seconds to realise the final was over. With it being an own goal, I don’t think anyone really knew where to run.”
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Geli: “We were thinking that if we can survive the final few minutes, the game can go to penalties. There was no question of us scoring with nine men. We were so tired and frustrated at the two red cards but we did score. I headed a free kick into my own goal. At this moment I just wanted to disappear, to vanish.
“I lay on the pitch. It was difficult. It was the goal which lost us the game and I felt culpable. It was a golden goal but it didn’t feel golden to me. I went to the ground and so did my team-mates. We had given everything. I had a few difficult days and I played that free kick over and over in my mind, what could I have done differently? We had come so close but when we lost, the illusion was broken. Things pass quickly in football, you have to move on. There was soon another season and more cups to fight for, but I am remembered for this final more than anything else.”
Hamann: “Suddenly, it was all over. After the crazy night we’d had, there was just a huge sense of relief. It has to be regarded as one of the all-time classics in terms of European finals. It was a thriller. The atmosphere was sensational. All the players and the staff stood in front of the fans to sing You’ll Never Walk Alone. It was a special moment. People in Germany knew about Liverpool from the ’70s and ’80s but the younger generation didn’t know much. Of course, it’s grown massively as a result of Jurgen Klopp but a lot of love for Liverpool in Germany stemmed from that final in Dortmund. They realised that night what this club is all about.”
Westerveld: “I was preparing myself for penalties. It was the same with the FA Cup final at 1-1. I had never lost a penalty shootout. I wasn’t fearing the prospect of another one. I had belief in the boys to put them away and confidence in myself to keep some out. I felt a duty to step up and deliver for the team after my mistake at the end of normal time. I was thinking, ‘Maybe I can turn it around and be the hero like in Cardiff’. I’d forgotten all about the golden goal rule.
“I must have got 50 tickets for family and friends as my hometown in Twente was only a short drive away. When we scored, I turned around looking for my family and friends in the stands to celebrate with them. I was thinking, ‘OK, this time we need to ensure it’s the winner, we need to keep it tight for the final few minutes’. When I turned back around, I saw all the boys in the corner. The staff were on the pitch too. That’s when I realised it was a golden goal.”
Thompson: “That final meant everything to Gerard. He absolutely loved it. To a European coach, winning a European trophy was massive. I remember going to the Super Cup in Monaco in August and Gerard saying to me, ‘Phil, did you know we don’t get a bonus if we win the Super Cup?’ In England, we’d never placed much importance on the Super Cup. It was a bit of an inconvenience but on the continent, they placed much greater value on it. Gerard had a word with Rick and came back to say he had secured a bonus for everyone. We beat Bayern 3-2. You think winning a European final 5-4 can’t be surpassed but then what happened in Istanbul four years later was incredible. I think because the Miracle of Istanbul came soon after, 2001 maybe doesn’t fully get the respect it deserves.”
Alaves fan Inigo Exposito Saez de Ibarra: “It’s true that we were raging when there was the own goal, but those feelings were replaced with pride. Pride in our city and team. The world got to know about us. Twenty years later, we have a mural of Mane outside our stadium. We always say when we look for a new manager that we want him to be like Mane. We were proud of that team then and we’re proud of them now. There hasn’t been a moment like it for us since.”
A historic treble had been completed with Liverpool’s first European trophy for 17 years but there was no wild party.
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Thompson: “Gerard was very clear that the celebrations had to wait. After we beat Arsenal the previous Saturday, one of the players came up to me and said, ‘Can you ask the boss if we can have a drink on the bus going back?’ I asked Gerard on the bus and he said, ‘Phil, no!’ He stood up, turned around in the middle of the bus and explained to the lads that we needed all the energy we could muster.
“He said whether we won or lost against Alaves, there would be no drinking because the game against Charlton the following weekend was so important. He said to them, ‘Believe me, you’ll thank me in the end. After Charlton, you can do whatever you want’.
“The celebrations on the pitch in Dortmund lasted so long. It must have been 2am by the time we got back to the hotel and our flight home was about 10am the following day. I didn’t think anyone had a drink that night apart from a glass of Champagne with the food. As a coach, your mind was already thinking about Charlton. Who’s fit? How are we going to use the time before then?”
Carragher: “In the dressing room, there was a big bath but it was more like a swimming pool. Everyone was sitting there, exhausted. There were no celebrations, really. That said, I always think you do your celebrations out on the pitch after finals. By the time you return to the dressing room, the adrenaline wears off because you’re not around fans. In the back of our minds, we also knew we still had to beat Charlton to qualify for the Champions League for the first time. Maybe we’d have celebrated differently if we’d beaten Chelsea at Anfield a few weeks earlier rather than drawing.”
Hamann: “Usually a big European final would be your last game of the season but we had a crucial game at Charlton three days later. Winning Liverpool’s first European trophy since 1984 and doing it in my home country, I couldn’t just go to bed. I made the most of it. I hid myself away in a corner of the team hotel with some friends and had a few shandies. I felt that the occasion had to be marked. Maybe Gerard heard that I’d had a few drinks because I wasn’t even named on the bench against Charlton. If only I’d known that in advance I would have had a proper go that night!”
Westerveld: “I was sat in the same corner as Didi! The Dutch and the Germans came together. I could never sleep after games. We’d take a six-pack of beers or a bottle of wine to someone’s hotel room and sit and talk together. Houllier had said we could have a toast with the meal and then off to bed. Maybe it was the right decision but it was hard not being able to savour those moments at the time.
“Imagine your dream coming true and then just going to bed. It was a strange feeling. The same thing happened in Cardiff and Dortmund. A few of us had a little celebration among ourselves after beating Alaves. The Germans in our team had won cups and titles at Bayern. Their attitude was we really need to celebrate every title because you never know if it will be your last one. Thankfully, we won at Charlton and then we could have a proper party. It would have taken the shine off the cup final wins if we had messed up at Charlton.”
Liverpool produced the final flourish Houllier demanded as they ran out 4-0 winners at The Valley to seal Champions League qualification. The UEFA Cup winners did not receive automatic entry to the following season’s Champions League back then. The following day half a million people descended on the streets of the city as the squad paraded their spoils on an open-top bus.
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Parry: “Though we won 4-0, the first half was a real struggle. Westerveld kept us in it and that gets forgotten. To end up winning three trophies while qualifying for the Champions League was a major achievement — arguably bigger than winning the Champions League four years later. In Istanbul, we took a lot of people by surprise. We didn’t qualify for the competition (for the 2005-06 season) by our league placing and there had been an ignominious exit from the FA Cup to Burnley. In 2001, there were more highs over an extended period. It was a more satisfying season. If I could bottle up the last month and keep it forever, I would.”
Thompson: “At the end, the staff had a huddle in front of the dugout. We danced for joy. It was emotional. It was so important for the club to play Champions League. Charlton actually brought some Champagne into the dressing room for us, which was a nice touch.
“We’d promised the lads they could have all the drink they wanted. They had a whip-round and we stopped at a Sainsbury’s not far from The Valley. The coach driver came back with a trolley full of beer, wine and Champagne. It was one big party all the way home. Everyone was on such a high. The only rule was that no one was allowed to get in their car when we got back to Melwood. They all went out to celebrate together. They deserved every drop that got drunk that night. Gerard liked to enjoy himself and he liked the boys to enjoy themselves at the right time.”
Fowler: “I started and scored two at Charlton on the final day. It capped off an astonishing season. It was close to perfection. That was a good trip back to Merseyside after winning at Charlton and then we headed straight out into town. Ironically, we ended up in Blue Bar at the Albert Dock. The parade on the Sunday was amazing. We were blessed as Liverpool players to have that support. The streets were packed. They had helped us so much to achieve it. Going around my home city with those trophies, it doesn’t get much better than that. I remember just wanting to take it all in. I didn’t want it to end. That’s what football is all about.”
Babbel: “That drive home from London to Liverpool after beating Charlton was something special. Finally, we could celebrate properly. My first season at Liverpool was amazing. It was just such a shame I got ill soon after (he was diagnosed with the debilitating Guillain-Barre syndrome and was sidelined for a year). If I could have had a few more years of football in my legs at such a beautiful club as Liverpool it would have been easier for me to accept.
“No one could say how long I’d be out as the illness is not the same for everyone. I would have given all my trophies and money away to be healthy again. I was lucky to come back but I couldn’t perform to the same level as before. I had some problems with the manager because my lifestyle wasn’t right. I was going out too much. It wasn’t his fault, it was my fault.”
Hamann: “Two years earlier I’d arrived from Newcastle and there I was on an open-top bus with three trophies and Liverpool having qualified for the Champions League for the first time. Sami, Stephane, Sander and Vladi all signed in 1999 too. Markus and Emile came the year after. We didn’t know what to expect. We knew all about Michael from the World Cup. We’d heard how good Stevie and Carra were but you never really know for sure until you’re working alongside them every day. That treble put Liverpool back on the map and made it more attractive to players Gerard wanted to sign.”
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Westerveld: “I had a camera with me on the bus around the city and recently I watched the video again. Half a million people were on the streets of Liverpool and you could see what it meant. The club hadn’t won so much over the previous decade. Suddenly, all this success had come at once. See the smiles and old people crying with happiness, that was the best moment of my Liverpool career. I can’t believe it’s 20 years ago. Life goes way too quick. What was extra special about 2001 was that we did something that no Liverpool team has done either before or since. We wrote our names in the big history of Liverpool FC and that makes me feel very proud.”
Murphy: “That week with the two finals and the game at Charlton, when you experience moments like that with the club you love, you think it’s never going to end. You don’t think, ‘This might not happen again so I really need to enjoy it’. You don’t ever think it’s going to be your last one.”
Carragher: “I think it was the best squad I’ve ever been involved in and it was my favourite time as a Liverpool player. It was Houllier’s dream to have two players in every position. You look at the options in attack: Michael, Robbie, Emile and Jari (Litmanen). If I could go back to any period in my career and relive it again, it would be the months of April and May 2001. Pressure games every three days. Trophies on the line. Winning.”
Vignal: “I miss Gerard a lot. He changed my life. I went to his funeral last December with an LFC scarf, because nobody from the club was able to travel (due to pandemic restrictions). I called Phil, Rick Parry, Stevie and Gary Mac to check this was OK. I thought it was right to take their authority. Gerard fell in love with Liverpool. Even after he left the club, we spoke all of the time — at least once a week. I am trying to become a coach and his guidance has been very important. He was always there for his players. He made sure a relationship doesn’t just end because you don’t work together any more. He was a really strong manager. I would like to go to Paris one day and bring his wife Isabelle to Anfield again.”
Thompson: “This city hadn’t seen anything like that parade for quite a while. The fans came out in their droves. The effort that went into winning those trophies and getting the Champions League spot was immense. It was superhuman. What a great summer that was to be a Liverpool fan. I was fed up going on holiday and seeing how many United shirts there were, from Spain to bloody Florida. That summer Liverpool fans could wear their shirts with great pride. You had fans of other clubs claiming it was a poor man’s treble. Not only was that unfair, it was also totally wrong. What we achieved was incredible.
“Nine of the starting line-up in Istanbul were from the squad we had left behind. It will be 20 years this October since Gerard had his heart problems. We were all going to get together around that time. It’s so sad that he’s not here. I still can’t believe Gerard is gone. Twenty years since the treble… it’s flown by. God bless Gerard Houllier.”
Additional contributor: Andy Mitten
(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Sam Richardson)