Hamann relives thrills and spills of classic final

Liverpool FC 5-4 Deportivo Alavés (Liverpool win on golden goal)
Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, 16 May
Babbel 4, Gerrard 16, McAllister pen 41, Fowler 73, Gelí og 116; Alonso 27, Javi Moreno 48 51, Cruyff 89

They were an odd couple, Deportivo Alavés and Liverpool FC. The former had not a single domestic title to their name; the latter, the largest trophy cabinet in English football. Together they were the perfect match. Or rather the 2001 UEFA Cup final they contested seemed like the perfect match. Europe had seen nothing like it since the 1950s when Real Madrid CF were making hay and headlines. The only pity was that it had to be won and lost so cruelly: the golden goal separating the sides was, in fact, an own goal scored by Alavés full-back Delfi Gelí four minutes from the end of extra time. Enough to give Liverpool a 5-4 victory and a third UEFA Cup.

The Merseysiders, resurgent under manager Gérard Houllier, had come through a tough draw with only one blemish to their name – a 1-0 home defeat by AS Roma. Yet they had already won 2-0 in Rome, so Italy's champions-elect joined an A list of victims that included Olympiacos CFP, FC Porto and FC Barcelona. Meanwhile, Alavés had stunned Italian watchers by knocking out FC Internazionale Milano at San Siro. The Basque club had shown themselves to be no respecters of reputation by rising from Spain's third division under charismatic coach José Manuel Esnal 'Mané'. Now they were European iconoclasts. Something 1. FC Kaiserslautern learned to their cost in the semi-finals, where Alavés put nine goals past them. However, Liverpool were more durable opponents. So while Iván Alonso, Javi Moreno (twice) and Jordi Cruyff scored for the team in blue and yellow, Markus Babbel, Steven Gerrard, Gary McAllister and Robbie Fowler registered for the Reds. Here, former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann recalls an incredible final.

Dietmar Hamann
"It was a roller-coaster ride for two and a half hours, for the fans and for us. I don't think there had ever been nine goals in a UEFA Cup final. That makes it special for starters, and the way it went – we were 2-0, 3-1, 4-3 up, they equalised in the last minute. And it was the only final decided by a golden goal, which we scored minutes before the end of extra time. To win the way we did was just fantastic, and to win it in my home country was unbelievable.

"I think we took it too easily, obviously. We beat Barcelona in the semis, we were strong favourites, everybody expected us to win and we went 2-0 up. But we knew Alavés had a decent side and were there on merit because they beat a lot of good teams to progress. After being 2-0 up, they got one back, then we made it 3-1. I think from then on we thought it would be plain sailing, but we probably underestimated things, took it a bit too easy, because every time we took the foot off the gas, they came back.

"To see them equalise in the last minute was devastating because we were winning – for 90 minutes we were always ahead and then to concede the equaliser, I thought the momentum was on their side. It plays in your mind if you are always ahead and they always keep coming back. Sometimes you believe in yourself and sometimes you lose faith. We had to stay strong and stick together. You just need to keep going and believe. And obviously by the time we scored we were getting ready for penalties. Luck struck again with an own goal off Gary McAllister's free-kick. We were really relieved. It was a dramatic finish to a dramatic game – and if you finish on the winning side, the right end to a fantastic game."