Milan Baroš (Czech pronunciation: [ˈmɪlan ˈbaroʃ]; born 28 October 1981) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a forward.
In 2005, he was part of the Liverpool team which won the UEFA Champions League. He went on to win Ligue 1 with Lyon in 2007, the FA Cup with Portsmouth in 2008 and the Süper Lig with Galatasaray in 2012. He also had spells with Baník Ostrava, where he started his career, and English club Aston Villa, and retired from professional football in 2020 following his fourth spell at Baník Ostrava.
Born in Valašské Meziříčí, Baroš represented the Czech Republic national team in 93 matches, scoring on 41 occasions. He won the Golden Boot as top scorer of the Euro 2004 tournament, where his nation reached the semi-finals. He went on to play in three more major international tournaments. His 41 goals for the Czech Republic is second behind only Jan Koller.
As a boy, Baroš played for youth clubs in Vigantice and Rožnov pod Radhoštěm before joining the youth team of Baník Ostrava at the age of 12. In 1998, he made his debut for the club in the Czech First League, the top division of Czech football, becoming a regular over the next few seasons. In 2000, he won the Talent of the Year award at the Czech Footballer of the Year awards. He was described by the Czech News Agency in the 2000–01 season as "perhaps the biggest star of the [Czech] football league". He played his last game for the club on 2 December 2001, in a 1–0 loss at Viktoria Žižkov. During his time in Ostrava, he scored 23 league goals in 76 appearances.
Baroš joined Liverpool in July 2001 for an undisclosed fee and on a contract of undisclosed length; he joined compatriots Patrik Berger and Vladimír Šmicer at the club. The BBC estimated his transfer fee as £3.2 million. He did not move to England straight away due to delays in obtaining a work permit, which was obtained in December. He made his club debut in a UEFA Champions League tie away to Barcelona on 13 March 2002; he played the last 16 minutes in place of Emile Heskey as the match finished goalless. It was his only appearance of the 2001–02 season.
In the 2002–03 season, Baroš scored twice on his Premiership debut away to Bolton Wanderers on 14 September 2002, as Liverpool won 3–2 away. Baroš was a substitute in the 2003 Football League Cup Final against Manchester United. He entered the game in the second half, but did not play to the end of the game, being substituted himself a minute before the end of the game. Liverpool won the game 2–0 to win the cup, the first major trophy of Baroš' career. Towards the end of the season, he scored twice in a 6–0 away win over already-relegated West Bromwich Albion in April 2003. He ended his first season in the Premiership with 12 goals for the club.
Baroš broke his ankle in a September 2003 match against Blackburn Rovers, a match which also saw teammate Jamie Carragher sustain a broken leg. Baroš subsequently missed five months of football and scored just two goals in the 2003–04 season. His first goal came in a league match against Leeds United in February 2004, while his other goal was in March in a 1–1 Champions League draw against Marseille. Baroš would later claim that had manager Gérard Houllier stayed at the club after the summer of 2004, he would have put in a transfer request. As it was, Houllier left the club and was replaced by Rafael Benítez.
Baroš entered the 2004–05 season having been the top goalscorer in the summer's Euro 2004 tournament. With Michael Owen and Emile Heskey having been sold and new signing Djibril Cissé out with a long-term injury, Baroš was now Liverpool's only senior striker. Despite being the club's joint top scorer with 13 goals, including a hat-trick against Crystal Palace, Spaniard Fernando Morientes was preferred to Baroš in Liverpool's starting lineup for the League Cup Final, a match they lost to Chelsea. However, he did start the 2005 Champions League Final, being substituted after 85 minutes as the game finished 3–3 in normal time. Liverpool went on to win the match on penalties. Baroš reportedly dropped the trophy during the team's celebration, leaving a dent, but Liverpool decided not to mend it because it "added to the character" of the trophy. He finished the season with 13 goals, becoming the joint-top scorer for the club. Baroš also received his first red card during the campaign, being sent off for a high challenge on Everton's Alan Stubbs in the Merseyside derby on 20 March.
In June 2005, former manager Gérard Houllier, then with French club Lyon, made an approach to sign Baroš. The player rejected the approach, but only made two substitute appearances for Liverpool in the 2005–06 season before leaving the club. He left Liverpool with league figures of 19 goals in 68 appearances.
Baroš moved to Premiership side Aston Villa for a fee of £6.5 million in August 2005, signing a four-year contract. He was given the number 10 shirt. Just ten minutes into his Aston Villa debut, he scored the only goal in his new team's league victory over Blackburn. He played a crucial role in Villa's League Cup second round victory against Wycombe Wanderers in September. With Villa trailing 3–1 at half time, Baroš scored shortly after the beginning of the second half and won a penalty, which Gareth Barry converted. He also provided the cross for Barry's second goal of the game as Villa scored seven goals in the second half, resulting in a final score of 8–3, their biggest win in over 40 years. He set up the first Aston Villa goal in a November match against Sunderland in dubious circumstances; back-heeling the ball, which "looked to have gone out of play" to Aaron Hughes. Hughes' pass found Kevin Phillips, who opened the scoring against his old club. He later scored a goal himself in the same game, which ended 3–1 to Villa.
In the Boxing Day match against Everton, Baroš was involved thoroughly in the proceedings. He opened the scoring in the 35th minute, having handled the ball immediately beforehand. This was not punished and the referee awarded a goal. Baroš subsequently celebrated in front of the travelling Everton fans, making a gesture as if to listen to them. A number of missiles from the crowd were subsequently thrown in Baroš' direction. The goal was just his third in what Glenn Moore of The Independent described as "an indifferent season" for Baroš. He went on to score his second goal of the game, and Villa's fourth, earning him man of the match honours. Baroš scored twice in January 2006's fourth round FA Cup win against Port Vale, and added another in the following round's 1–1 draw with Manchester City. Late in the season, he scored two goals in the Second City derby against Birmingham City at Villa Park, marking his 11th and 12th goals of the season and winning another man of the match award. He would score no further goals that season.
Baroš failed to score at the start of the 2006–07 season, leading new manager Martin O'Neill to challenge him in October to prove himself before the January transfer window. He subsequently scored his first goal of the season in December 2006, eight months since scoring his last one, with a close-range equaliser against Sheffield United in a 2–2 draw. Although he also managed to score for Aston Villa in a 2–1 loss to Manchester United in the FA Cup, he left the club in January 2007, having scored just once in 17 league matches that season.
On 22 January 2007, Baroš signed with French side Lyon, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract and reuniting with former manager Gérard Houllier from his time at Liverpool. The deal swapped Baroš with Lyon striker John Carew, who joined Aston Villa on a three-and-a-half-year deal. Just two days after joining the club, he made his Lyon debut in a league match against Bordeaux. He appeared as a substitute, as league leaders Lyon lost 2–1 for their first home defeat of the season. Baroš took part in that year's Champions League, featuring as a substitute in a 0–0 draw in Rome against Roma. He played no further part in that season's Champions League campaign, as he remained on the bench in the return leg as Lyon were eliminated.