Pool to stamp on AC Milan's class
While it wouldn't be fair to describe Wombles-style levels of insanity to Rafael Benitez's Reds - maddening though their domestic form has been - Liverpool, once the kings of Europe, now have some idea of what it's like to go into a major final billed as plucky little underdogs attempting to bite hands of the masters.
Their mere presence in the continent's ultimate club game means the Merseysiders clearly can't be considered rank outsiders but, leaving aside international caps, a selective comparison of the honours achieved by members of the respective finalists, starkly illustrates the pecking order going into tonight's Champions' League decider in Istanbul.
Steve Finnan. Honours? None. Xabi Alonso. Honours? None. Luis Garcia? Honours? None. Even the talismanic Steven Gerrard can claim only a UEFA Cup, FA Cup and two League Cup winner's medals - impressive enough, but hardly a footballing full house.
By contrast, check out this little Milanese honour roll: two World Cup winner's medals, two Copa America winner's medals, two Italian League championships, one European Cup Winner's Cup medal, one Brazilian League championship, and two Copa Libertadores winner's medals. And - here's the rub - that's just Cafu!
The Brazilian full-back, still bombing up and down the wing at 34, may have the biggest collection of medals at the San Siro - but the likes of Paolo Maldini, Clarence Seedorf, Alessandro Nesta, Andrei Shevchenko, Jaap Stam, and keeper Dida aren't too far behind. In a remarkable irony given the scale of Cafu's accomplishments on the world stage, they all have something that he has yet to claim - a Champions' League winner's medal.
And it's not just the seen-it-all veterans who have glittering prizes to display. Kaka, at just 23, can already boast a World Cup winner's medal, picked up as a member of Brazil's squad in Japan in 2002, at the expense of Germany's Dietmar Hamann, the only member of the current Liverpool team to have seen action in a World Cup final.
On paper then, and man for man, this looks like a no-brainer: AC Milan will simply have too much talent, too much know-how and too much big-match experience for Liverpool. But then, that's what they said at the quarter-final and semi-final stages, too. And, to their dismay, Juventus and Chelsea now know better.
But at yesterday's pre-match press conferences in the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, it was impossible not to feel the impressive weight of Milan's vast experience - especially when Maldini spoke about what it felt like to be facing into his seventh European final. "The heart still races," he insisted, although it has to be said that the great man looked as serenely unruffled by the prospect as ever. As is customary on these occasions, the rival managers weren't giving much away, although Carlo Ancelotti caused a moment of surprise when he began a sentence with the words, "Crespo will play," before adding with a smile, "but I don't know if he will play from the start." That still leaves open the possibility that the head coach will pair Andriy Shevchenko with the fit-again Filippo Inzaghi, even though the striker hasn't started a Champions' League game since October.
For his part, Rafa Benitez may have let slip his own thinking about the spearhead of his attack - where Djibril Cisse and Milan Baros are in contention for the role - when, in attempting to deflect a question about the Czech striker's future at Anfield, he politely declined to look beyond tonight's match, saying: "I want to see Milan score a lot of goals." We have to assume he wasn't talking about the opposition!
Alternatively, Benitez might follow the success of Cisse's two goal comeback against Villa by pairing him up front with Harry Kewell, as he did in that game.
If so, it will come as a surprise to Ancelotti who has made it clear that he fully expects Liverpool to play with a lone front man as they did against Juventus and Chelsea.
But it's the return of Xabi Alonso, who missed the victory over Chelsea, which could be the most significant factor in Liverpool's favour. Few players in the Premiership distribute the ball as well as the Spaniard and, as a tough competitor himself, he won't be in the least bit phased by the combative presence of Rino Gattuso.
But, inevitably, given the large English press contingent in Istanbul, Ancelotti had his attention drawn away from Alonso to the potential match-turning impact of Steven Gerrard.
"I think he is one of the strongest midfielders in the world," said the Milan boss, "but I don't think he can decide a match all by himself."
The last time Liverpool won the European Cup, in Rome in 1984, Bruce Grobbelaar graced the decisive penalty shoot-out with his celebrated wobbly-legs routine; fans of the current Liverpool team will simply be hoping that the less than failsafe Dudek avoids wobbles of any kind in another Olympic Stadium.
As to the possibility of tonight's game going to penalties, Ancelotti considers it "extreme" but says that his team has practised them anyway. Not so, Benitez, who reckons there is no point in practising them because the pressure of the real situation simply can't be replicated in training.
Those words could yet come back to haunt him, but the Liverpool boss prefers to concentrate on the here and now, and his stated goal of winning the game in 90 minutes.
Can they do it, one more time, when it matters the most? You look at Milan's quality, experience and near universal status as hot favourites, and you can only come to one conclusion: the European Cup is going home to Merseyside.
After all, Liverpool have Jamie Carragher.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
