LFC in 2000s: Cup treble & Istanbul, to brink of administration

After the struggles of the 1990s, the 2000s saw Liverpool return to the top of European football and stamp their mark on domestic cup competitions – but that league title remained elusive.

At the turn of the millennium, Gerard Houllier was in charge and oversaw profound changes at the club that helped usher in practices that were in line with the modern demands of the game.

The Frenchman gave the job his all, and that almost included his life after suffering a dissected aorta at half-time of a league fixture with Leeds in October 2001.

The league title would remain out of reach for another Liverpool manager, but the early 2000s were not without incredible moments to celebrate.

After putting his stamp on the squad and introducing more professional practices, Houllier then oversaw the club’s most trophy-laded season since 1983/84.

The historic treble started with a League Cup triumph in 2001, secured in typical dramatic Liverpool fashion with a penalty shootout win!

The FA Cup followed soon after, dubbed the ‘Michael Owen Final’ after the forward single-handedly dragged Liverpool to victory with two late goals in five dizzying minutes against Arsenal.

The second of three cups had been won and Liverpool had clinched the sixth FA Cup in their history.

Just four days after the triumph at the Millennium Stadium, Liverpool were in Dortmund to meet Alaves in the UEFA Cup final – and would you believe it, it was another dramatic day out.

The treble-winning campaign was etched in history with a 5-4 extra-time victory in the UEFA Cup final – and Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler all had a say with a goal or assist.

They returned to Merseyside as heroes. In the space of 80 days, the class of 2001 had immortalised their names into the history books.

The silverware did not stop there, with a Super Cup (2001) and another League Cup (2002/03) to follow before Houllier stepped down at Anfield in 2004.

In his place, Liverpool appointed promising former Valencia manager Rafa Benitez, and by May 2005 he defied all expectations to take the club back to the top of European football.

The Spaniard wasted little time adding national compatriots Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia to his squad, as well as Djibril Cisse, Fernando Morientes and Mauricio Pellegrino.

Owen was off to Real Madrid, but both Gerrard and Jamie Carragher remained at the heart of the squad – in fact, the No. 23 missed just four of the Reds’ 60 games in 2004/05.

The pair were cornerstones as Liverpool made the unlikeliest of runs to the Champions League final.

If Reds couldn’t believe what had happened until that point, what came next in Istanbul was something even script writers could never have conjured up – it was simply a miracle.

From three goals down to a win, you guessed it, on penalties ensures it will always be Liverpool’s greatest triumph of all time.

By lifting the European Cup, Benitez emulated Joe Fagan in winning the competition in his debut season at Liverpool.

Another memorable day out in Wales saw Gerrard get a final named in his honour after a stunning performance in the 2006 FA Cup final – that volley was out of this world!

Incredibly, the Reds would be back in the Champions League final in 2007. This time, though, Milan were in no mood to let the trophy head back to Anfield for a second time in as many years.

Benitez continued to push on, signing Fernando Torres from Atletico Madrid. He would form a formidable partnership with Gerrard that so nearly ended the Reds’ long wait for a league title in 2008/09.

The pair shared a magical connection and we will always have the 4-0 win over Real Madrid and the 4-1 victory at Old Trafford to look back on – and let’s not forget, those games were four days apart!

Liverpool flirted with returning to the top of English football throughout the 2000s, but it proved a frustrating quest – made more difficult by owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

The pair drove the club to the brink of administration and all but forced Benitez through the exit doors, and who did they decide to replace him with? None other than Roy Hodgson.

It was a disastrous period for the club, and it all grew increasingly fractured as the weeks and months went by, until FSG (then known as New England Sports Ventures/NESV) paid £300 million for the club in October 2010.

A decade of unexpected highs would close with somewhat of a sour taste for how close the club came to the brink, but there was the promise of new beginnings under new ownership.