If there was ever a way to end your time at Liverpool in style, Vladimir Smicer is the man to talk to.

At 32-years-old and largely a substitute player under Rafa Benitez, the future Czech Republic manager was the unlikeliest of heroes in the legendary game that was the 2005 Champions League final, and looking back at Smicer’s Liverpool career, his heroics in Istanbul were even more special given how largely unspectacular the playmaker was.

Signed for £4.2 million from French side Lens in 1999, Smicer was tasked with replacing Steve McManaman in the Liverpool XI in a move that the midfielder called “a dream come true”, but, his first year on Merseyside was a difficult one as the pace of the English game took a while for the Czech international to adjust to.

His second campaign in England was a lot smoother, though. The midfielder was a regular fixture for the side that went on to win three trophies, but injuries and lack of form kept Smicer from being a major first-team player for the majority of his time at Liverpool.

It wasn’t until the Champions League final where Smicer would etch his name into Liverpool folklore.

Starting the game on the bench, the veteran midfielder came on for Harry Kewell just 22 minutes in after the Australian international suffered an injury that forced the striker out of the final.

As the teams went in for half-time with the score at 3-0 to AC Milan, all looked lost for Liverpool, but then 15 minutes of magic occurred, and Smicer was at the heart of it as the Czech international scored the second goal of the comeback, firing an effort from distance past Dida to make the score 3-2.

As Xabi Alonso levelled the game up and sent it to penalties, it looked like Liverpool’s final to lose as the shootout began. Dietmar Hamann and Djibril Cisse fired the Reds 2-0 up as Serginho and Andrea Pirlo missed their two opening kicks, and although John Arne Riise missed the third shot from the penalty spot, Smicer was given the task of scoring the fourth and ultimately decisive kick.

In his final action ever for Liverpool, the midfielder buried the ball past Dida, and as Jerzy Dudek saved Andriy Shevchenko’s spot kick, Benitez's side were crowned champions of Europe for a fifth time.

Smicer’s Liverpool career might have been lacklustre in the grand scheme of things, but one game of magic in Istanbul saw the Czech became an icon at Anfield.

Liverpool fans, what is your favourite memory of Smicer? Let us know!