As Rafa's Reds prepare to begin their defence of the European Cup, Liverpoolfc.tv present 101 reasons why we love this competition so much.
The unforgettable night in Istanbul on May 25 was our fifth triumph in the world's greatest inter-club knockout tournament and came 40 years since Bill Shankly first led the Reds into continental combat.
During this time Liverpudlians have forged a love affair with the competition that has no equal and here, in no specific order, are 101 reasons why...
1. Five times
2. Sir Bob Paisley
3. 25th of May
4. Crazy Horse
5. Penalty shoot-outs
6. Barney Rubble
7. Red and white chequered flags
8. Doing the Dudek
9. Supersub
10. Upsetting the odds
11. Taksim Square
12. Joey eating the frogs legs
13. Winning on the toss of a coin
14. Stevie G taking the cup to bed
15. Inter running scared of the Kop
16. King Kenny
17. St Etienne
18. Steve Nicol's bottle
19. Transalpino
20. Rafa going the pub
21. Oulu Pallosuera
22. Howie Gayle
23. The Anfield atmosphere
24. Qualifying for the Super Cup
25. Cheering for Reykjavik
26. Bento
27. Slovakian linesman
28. Gordon Wallace
29. Souey winding up the crowd in Bucharest
30. Storming 2nd half comebacks
31. Rainy nights in Lisbon
32. Keegan's black-eye
33. All-English semi-finals
34. Wearing all red for the first time
35. The Benitles
36. Smithy's header
37. Dour Bruges
38. Playing air guitar in the BayArena
39. Joey making the Swiss roll
40. Brietner's fuzzy beard
41. Vladi's parting shot
42. Pitch invasions at Seaview
43. Borussia Moenchengladbach
44. Brucie's wobbly legs
45. Duty free
46. Scousers in Gay Paree
47. Houllier's return v Roma
48. Open top double-decker bus tours of the city
49. Rising to the challenge in Turin
50. Flag nights51. Carra 'going on a bender'
52. Overconfident Germans
53. The after-match banquet in Rome
54. Miss Turkey
55. The Quo
56. Phil 'Zico' Neal
57. 'We're the greatest team in Europe and we're going to...'
58. Smokin Joe Fagan
59. 'Underneath the floodlights down in Düsseldorf'
60. Qualifying dramatically from the group stages
61. The Falcon
62. Visiting the Vatican
63. Tommy Smith being prettier than Sophia Loren
64. Bunking off school to get the ground early
65. Ring of Fire
66. Joey munching Gladbach
67. 54,000 believing a 5-1 deficit can be overturned
68. Allez Les Rouges
69. Old Big Ears
70. Super strength foreign lager
71. Fergie's claim that Aberdeen were the best in Britain
72. Being a top seed
73. Winning in Kiev for Houllier
74. Footy specials all the way to Rome
75. Sportsnight and Midweek Sports Special
76. Cheap Easyjet flights
77. Watching the Champions League draw live on Sky
78. Qualifying for the World Club Championship
79. Searching for Adidas shops
80. Silencing the Basques of Bilbao
81. Chris Rea's 'I don't know what it is but I love it'
82. Tom Saunders' spying missions
83. Steam rising from the Kop
84. Andy Gray: "You Beauty!"
85. Russian hats in Red Square
86. Meeting long lost friends at the final
87. Taking over Wembley
88. Crackly radio commentary
89. Going behind the Iron Curtain
90. Getting a bye into round two
91. Claiming Ajax were lucky after a 7-3 aggregate defeat
92. Dancing in the Trevi Fountain
93. Partying through the night in Istanbul
94. The Grafton flag
95. The Champions League theme tune
96. Petrolul Ploesti
97. Shankly's distrust of foreigners
98. UEFA's badge of distinction
99. Keeping the trophy for good
100. The prospect of winning number six
101. Campioni Liverpool!
from Liverpool Homepage
brilliant!
