Defeat has left me stunned, says Crespo

Hernan Crespo today talked of the "dream night" that turned into a nightmare as his moment of glory in the Ataturk Olympic Stadium was eclipsed by Liverpool's fairytale.

When the AC Milan striker, who is on loan from Chelsea, scored two first-half goals, the second an exquisite chip over Jerzy Dudek to put his side three up, it looked unlikely that Stamford Bridge would ever see him again as he appeared to be the match winner.

"To be 3-0 up at half-time, and to have scored two goals in my first European Cup Final, I would never have dreamed of it," said the Argentine. "But unfortunately, life is like this. You have surprises.

"It's impossible to explain what has happened to us. Liverpool gave everything for the win when everything looked to be over but it is difficult to stomach what happened. It's terrible to digest and difficult to explain what I am feeling now." Crespo probably did not feel as bad as his strike partner Andriy Shevchenko, who had a goal disallowed, missed a hatful of chances and then had the final penalty saved.

As for Dudek's incredible double save from him in the dying minutes, he sighed: "If that situation were to happen another 10,000 times, he wouldn't save it.

"I don't know how we lost. All those chances, all those saves. It is very sad because we had the game in our hands."