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When little Luis Javier Garcia Sanz, an attacking midfielder from
Badalona in Catalunya, arrived at Anfield in the summer of 2004, few
Liverpool fans knew what to expect of him. Three years later he left the
club having carved an indelible mark on Liverpool's history and on
their supporters. He was unveiled alongside compatriot Xabi Alonso in
August 2004, and the two key ingredients of Benitez' new Spanish Armada
made their debuts in a 1-0 defeat at Bolton's Reebok Stadium. Garcia had
a goal wrongly ruled out for offside, but the loss taught Benitez and
his new Spanish charges a lot about the rough-and-tumble nature of their
new environment. Luis didn't have to wait long for his first legitimate
strike though, the third of a 3-0 win in the next league game at home
to West Brom the first of 13 goals in his debut season, amongst them a
Merseyside derby winner, but it was the Champions League where he would
really shine. He scored the opener against Bayer Leverkusen in a 3-1
second round win, before following that up with two strikes as the Reds
won by the same margin in Germany. A stunning, dipping, 25-yard Garcia
volley put Liverpool 2-0 up after 25 minutes of the quarter-final with
Juventus on an emotional night at Anfield, and after the second leg was
negotiated, Jose Mourinho's Chelsea awaited in the semis.
A goalless
affair at Stamford Bridge paved the way for a tense second leg at
Anfield. Four minutes in, Steven Gerrard released Milan Baros and the
Czech beat compatriot Petr Cech to the ball, Baros was taken down, and
as the ball ran loose Garcia was on hand to knock it goalwards. William
Gallas hooked the ball away from inside the Kop end net, Anfield roared,
Garcia ran away celebrating wildly (see photo above), 'it was a
goal from the moon' said Mourinho. The remainder of the game was played
out amid the kind of deafening noise not heard at Anfield since
Liverpool's 'glory days' of the 70s and 80s. The Reds held on, despite
six minutes of injury time, and were into the Final in Istanbul amid
delirious scenes. Garcia started the showdown with AC Milan looking to
provide attacking support to Baros and Harry Kewell. Thirty-nine minutes
into the Final, and with the Italians 1-0 up, Garcia's run into the
penalty area was blocked by Alessandro Nesta's hand. As he appealed for a
penalty, Milan broke away and doubled their advantage, and five minutes
later it was 3-0, but Garcia played his part as Liverpool produced the
greatest fightback in European football history. The little Spaniard was
on the field for the full 120 minutes as Liverpool pulled the score
back to 3-3, and watched on in amazement as Jerzy Dudek saved from
Andriy Shevchenko to crown the Reds as European champions. (Mark Jones)
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