We won it five times,
We won it five ti-i-i-i-imes,
In Istanbul,
We won it five times……..

We’ll win it six times,
We’ll win it six ti-i-i-i-mes,
In Ancient Greece,
We’ll win it six times…

Right now, I’m completely focused on the Champions League Final tomorrow night. Even if Liverpool end up losing to AC Milan, they have done all Liverpool fans proud. The match itself is finely poised, I think any team can win it, and it will be a heart-stopping affair tomorrow.

Anyway, let’s look back at Liverpool’s last five triumphs in Europe’s premier competition :

Liverpool 3 Р1 Borussia M̦nchengladbach, 1976/77

Liverpool’s first European Cup final was a defining moment in the world’s most prestigious club competition – it was the first to involve an English club for a decade, and began eight years of English dominance in the competition.

The Reds had murdered FC Zurich 6-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals and had the league in their pocket, but their spirits had taken a blow just four days before the final when we lost to their fierce rivals ManYoo in the FA Cup final.

Having gone in 1-0 up at half-time, Liverpool were pegged back by Allan Simonsen’s equaliser. But it took just ten minutes for them to regain the lead – through defender Tommy Smith on his 600th appearance for the club. Then Phil Neal whacked in an 85th-minute penalty, and Emlyn ‘Thrush’ Hughes squeaked his way up to Liverpool’s first European Cup. Also, this was the year I was born. Need I say more?
Liverpool 1 – 0 Club Brugge, 1977/78

The Reds only had to wait a year for their second European Cup. Keggy Keegle, whose mazy run had won the penalty that sealed victory in 1977, had departed for Hamburg, and been replaced by Kenny Dalglish.

The Kop had had reservations about Dalglish’s ability to fill The Incredible Perm’s boots. They shouldn’t have. His goal – chipping Birger Jensen after being set free by Graeme Souness (winning the first of his three European Cups) – was his 31st of the season, and was enough to settle the tie.

And so the cup with the big ears was on its way back to England for the second time in two years. Actually, it never left, because the final was played at Wembley – probably making the patriotic Scotsman Dalglish’s goal even more special. Especially as he, unlike the England squad, was on his way to the World Cup.
Liverpool 1 – 0 Real Madrid, 1980/81

Phil Thompson wasn’t always the big-nosed Liverpool fan on Soccer Saturday. Back in 1981, he was the big-nosed Liverpool fan captaining his club to their third (and his second) European Cup.

It was an important win for a Liverpool side keen to prove they were the dominant force in English football. Their previous two title wins had been overshadowed by Nottingham Forest winning and retaining the European Cup, and the 1980/81 season had seen the title won by Aston Villa – the only time between 1978 and 1985 that it didn’t end up at Anfield.

In the end the final was a dour affair settled by a tale of two Kennedys – Alan picking up Ray’s throw-in to net the only goal, and make Bob Paisley the only man to manage a team to three European Cups.
Liverpool 1 – 1 Roma (4-2 on penalties), 1983/84

There was a new manager – Joe Fagan – but the same old guard of players. And the man who had played in all of Liverpool’s three previous wins broke the deadlock just 13 minutes in. He’d scored in 1977, remember – the Olympic Stadium in Rome was a happy hunting ground for Phil Neal.

Unfortunately for the Reds, Roma weren’t keen to let their home advantage slip, and Roberto Pruzzo levelled things before half-time. No-one found the net in the following half, or in extra-time, and the stage was set for penalties.

You’d fancy Roma in their own stadium, wouldn’t you? Especially after Phil Nicol started things off with a miss for Liverpool. But then you’d be forgetting Bruce Grobbelaar’s spaghetti legs, which were enough to put off World Cup winners Francesco Graziani and Bruno Conti, and give the world that legendary photo of a heavily-’tached Ian Rush with the cup.
Liverpool 3 – 3 AC Milan (3-2 on penalties), 2004/05

Spaghetti legs and penalties were to prove decisive once again when, more than two decades after their fourth European Cup, Liverpool finally picked up their fifth. But before that came a match that, in terms of excitement, put their previous four triumphs firmly in the shade.

It only took 52 seconds for Paolo Maldini to give the Italian side the lead and start a nation laughing at Liverpool. By half-time, Hernan Crespo (on loan from Chelsea, as if salt needed rubbing into the wound) had added two more, having been set up by Kaka and Andriy ‘look how good I used to be’ Shevchenko. Oh, and I smashed my MP3 player in frustration at the end of the first half. All was lost. Or was it?

Well, you know it wasn’t. Dietmar Hamann came on for the injured Steve Finnan, Steven Gerrard pushed further forwards and pulled one back in the 54th minute – and the rest was history, with more than one fairy story thrown in.

Vladimir Smicer had come on as a substitute for Harry Kewell, who had either a groin strain or a bad case of not wanting to be involved, depending on who you believe. The whole world knew Smicer was on his way out of Anfield, and he signed off in style, slapping in a second. Then Milan Baros freed Gerrard in the area, and for the sake of diplomacy we’ll say Gennaro Gattuso fouled him. Xabi Alonso needed two bites at the cherry from the spot, but Liverpool had done enough – after a fantastic double save by Dudek from Shevchenko – to take the match to a penalty shoot-out. Another Dudek save from Shevchenko, and that fifth time you’ve heard so much about was sealed.

Can they make it six on Wednesday?

YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE…..

Information about the finals was from Football365. Pictures from BBC.