Why Jamie Carragher missed out on Champions League final celebration photos in 2005

Updated: 05 Jun, 2024 • 0 • min read

Table of Contents

Why Jamie Carragher missed out on Champions League final celebration photos in 2005

Photo: Getty Images

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has explained how he appears in none of the photos celebrating the 2005 Champions League triumph in Istanbul.

"That night in Istanbul" is a phrase that will live long in the memory of Liverpool fans.

On 25 May 2005 in Istanbul, Rafa Benítez's men produced one of the greatest comebacks European football has ever seen to win their fifth Champions League title.

Buy Liverpool FC - Champions League Final & The Road To Istanbul [DVD]

Trailing 3-0 at half time and looking down and out, Liverpool scored three goals in six second-half minutes to level the score to 3-3 by the time the game was up.

With extra time unable to separate the two sides, the game went to penalties, with Jerzy Dudek saving penalties from both Andrea Pirlo and Andriy Shevchenko in the shootout to bring European glory back to Merseyside.

READ MORE: Djibril Cissé: Liverpool's Istanbul '05 was better than Man United's Barcelona '99

Though the night lives long in the memory of those associated with the club, it wasn't all rosy, with Carragher admitting he still regrets what happened after the final whistle.

Speaking on The Overlap, Carragher spoke about missing the celebratory photos due to cramp.

One of my regrets about when Stevie [Steven Gerrard] lifted the trophy is that I'm not in any picture.

I'm at the back stretching my calf, I'm getting cramp at the end of the game.

There is a shot from up above and you see players who have only played two games, the right back, Josemi is in every picture, and I'm stretching my calf at the back and I'm thinking, "Oh my God."

Whenever I sign a picture, I'm signing over Josemi's head.

Josemi was Benítez's first signing as Liverpool manager, arriving from La Liga side Málaga in the summer of 2004.

The defender made just 28 starts in all competitions across two seasons with the Reds.