Remembering Liverpool’s historic cup treble in 2001

The date was 16 May 2001. Liverpool were on the cusp of achieving something historic.

Three months before, the Reds had bagged their first silverware of the 2000-01 campaign, having beaten Birmingham City in an intense battle in the League Cup final. Only three days earlier, Gerard Houllier’s side had lifted their second trophy of the season, defeating Arsenal in the FA Cup final.

And now, they were face-to-face against Spanish outfit Alaves in the final of the UEFA Cup. On the edge of making history, by completing a cup treble.

With Liverpool leading 3-1 by the 40th minute, it seemed as if the game was done and dusted. But the La Liga side fought their way back into the game and when normal time concluded, the scoreline was 4-4. So the game went into extra-time, with the Golden Goal rule in play – whichever team scored first within the allotted thirty minutes won the game and the trophy.

Twenty-five minutes in, Gary McAllister fired in a free-kick and Alaves defender Delfi Geli inadvertently turned the ball into his own net to send the Liverpool players and the fans into pandemonium…

It all started with the League Cup triumph

Liverpool began their League Cup journey in 2000-01 disposing of Chelsea 2-1 after extra-time. Houllier’s side then announced their intentions loudly when they thrashed Stoke City 8-0, riding on a hat-trick by star striker Robbie Fowler.

The fifth round saw Liverpool come up against Fulham, who put up a solid fight for ninety minutes. But the Reds stepped it up in extra-time, dumping the Cottagers out of the competition with a 3-0 win.

Next up, it was Crystal Palace in the semi-final over a two-legged affair. The first leg, played at the Selhurst Park, saw Liverpool return with a disadvantage, beaten 2-1. But our side made light work of the Eagles at Anfield, thrashing them 5-0, with Danny Murphy scoring twice.

The final saw Liverpool squaring up against Birmingham City. Fowler put us ahead at the half-hour mark and with no reply from the Blues until the 90th minute, the trophy seemed in the bag. However, Darren Purse struck in stoppage time to force the game into extra time. The added 30 minutes yielded no winner, taking the game into penalties.

Dietmar Hamann missed a spot-kick for Liverpool in the shootout, but we prevailed 5-4 after Andrew Johnson failed to convert his effort for Birmingham. And with that, Houllier had won his first trophy with Liverpool.

The FA Cup followed…

Liverpool kicked off their journey in the FA Cup with a routine 3-0 win over Rotherham United with Emile Heskey leading the way with a double. A tough trip to Leeds awaited us in the next round but Heskey produced the goods again along with Barmby to lead us to a 2-0 win against the Whites.

Heskey was on the scoresheet again as Liverpool disposed of Manchester City 4-2 at Anfield in the fifth round. Another win with the same scoreline followed in the next round away at Tranmere Rovers, setting up a semi-final date with Wycombe Wanderers at Villa Park.

The game was goalless for nearly 80 minutes before Heskey stepped up to fire us in front and Robbie Fowler followed suit to put the result beyond doubt, although Keith Ryan did score a consolation for Wycombe.

Liverpool would be facing Premier League rivals Arsenal in the final. Another tight encounter ensued and it did not bode well for us when Freddie Ljungberg scored for the Gunners after 70 minutes. But a young Michael Owen turned it on late in the game, scoring twice in five minutes to complete a memorable turnaround to seal Liverpool’s second trophy of the season.

The Historic Treble was then completed

Liverpool began their UEFA Cup campaign with a narrow 1-0 aggregate win against Romanian club Rapid Bucharesti in the first round, which was followed by a 4-2 triumph (on aggregate) over Czech club Slovan Liberec.

The third round saw us facing off against Greek giants Olympiacos. The first-leg played in Greece ended in a 2-2 draw, setting up a tricky finish at Anfield. But facing Liverpool at home was always going to be a daunting task as Olympiacos would go on to find out, with Houllier’s men winning comfortably by a 2-0 margin.

Up next were Serie A giants AS Roma. Liverpool seemed to have earned progression to the next round after the first-leg at the Stadio Olimpico as Michael Owen’s double led us to a 2-0 win. While the reverse fixture ended in a 1-0 defeat at Anfield, we moved on to the quarter-finals, where we would be facing FC Porto.

The first-leg in Portugal ended goalless but Owen was on song once again as he and Nick Barmby scored to lead us to a 2-0 win and in turn, to the semi-final, where our biggest test awaited in the form of Barcelona. It was a tie decided by the narrowest of margins as a Gary McAllister goal in the second leg earned us a 1-0 aggregate win.

And what followed next is etched in gold in Liverpool folklore.

Houllier and his heroes

Houllier’s treble-winning side was built on a solid defensive unit comprising of Markus Babbel and a young Jamie Carragher as the full-backs with Sami Hyypia and Stephane Henchoz forming a formidable partnership at the heart of the defence.

A young Steven Gerrard led our midfield alongside Danny Murphy and they were complemented by the likes of Dietmar Hamann and Gary McAllister (who was 36 years old when the final was played), along with the likes of Nick Barmby, who scored some crucial goals along the way and Vladimir Smicer.

In the attack, the English trio of Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen and Emile Heskey stepped up each time of asking while the January addition of Jari Litmanen proved to be quite an inspired decision as well.

A cup treble aside, Liverpool had a solid Premier League campaign as well, finishing third in the top-flight following a 4-0 win over Charlton Athletic on the final day and securing qualification for the next season’s UEFA Champions League.

“When you play in a European final, you are looking for immortality. These boys have produced a game which will be remembered for a long time.”

Houllier said these words after winning the intense UEFA Cup final against Alaves. (h/t BBC)

Indeed, nearly two decades later, as Liverpool chase another historic milestone, Houllier and his heroes continue to be remembered and cherished by the Reds fans.