AC Milan vs. Liverpool FC - Champions League Final Preview

[Woozie]

AC Milan and Liverpool may never have met previously in European competition, but they each boast an enviable European Cup pedigree. Both clubs are their respective country’s most successful representatives in this tournament, having appeared in 14 finals between them. Milan have won it six times, Liverpool four. Now the pair clash in a much-anticipated Champions League final in Istanbul on Wednesday, and Goal.com looks at their history in the competition…
MILAN’S GLORY TRAIL

AC Milan contested their first European Cup final in 1957-58, when the competition was in its infancy. Real Madrid had won the first two editions in 1956 and 1957, and they came up against the Rossoneri in Brussels. Real won 3-2 after extra-time, but Milan were back in the final five years later, beating reigning champions Benfica 2-1 at Wembley to win the trophy for the first time. Lifting the Cup aloft was skipper Cesare Maldini, father of Milan’s legendary defender Paolo, who will lead the team out in Istanbul.

While arch-rivals Inter won the European Cup the next two years (1964 and 1965), Milan regained the Cup in 1969, convincingly beating Johan Cruyff’s emerging Ajax 4-1 in Madrid.

But it was to be another 20 years before the Rossoneri were crowned kings of Europe again. In Barcelona in 1989, a team coached by Arrigo Sacchi with a thrilling Dutch spine of Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten, thrashed Steaua Bucharest 4-0. And Milan retained the trophy the following year, beating Benfica 1-0 in Vienna.

Milan were also in the first final of the Champions League era, but lost 1-0 to Olympique Marseille in Munich in that 1993 clash. Marseille were, however, subsequently stripped of the title.

Meanwhile, Milan were back the following year, destroying Barcelona 4-0 in Athens, despite being without key defenders Costacurta and Baresi, both of whom were suspended. The absence of those two, and the presence in the Barca side of Stoichkov and Romario, made the Catalan giants favourites. But Milan set about them with some vibrant attacking football, and goals from Massaro (2), Savicevic and Desailly ensured an outstanding victory.

Although Milan reached a third successive final the following year, Ajax exacted some belated revenge by beating the Rossoneri 1-0 in Vienna. Patrick Kluivert, then 18 and later to join Milan, scored the 86th minute winner for the Amsterdam club.

Milan’s sixth triumph – and second since the advent of the Champions League format – came in their ninth final. The date was 2003, the venue Old Trafford in Manchester, and the opponents traditional Serie A rivals Juventus. After a tactical battle produced a goalless draw in 120 minutes of open play, the outcome was decided by a penalty shoot-out.

Trezeguet’s shot was saved, Serginho scored. Then Birindelli scored while Seedorf’s effort was saved : all-square again. And both Zalayeta and Kaladze saw their shots saved. Dida then saved from Montero while Nesta beat Buffon to give Milan the advantage. And although Del Piero converted his spot-kick, so too did Shevchenko to give Milan the Cup 3-2 on penalties.

1958 – Real Madrid 3-2 AC MILAN
1963 – AC MILAN 2-1 Benfica
1969 – AC MILAN 4-1 Ajax
1989 – AC MILAN 4-0 Steaua Bucharest
1990 – AC MILAN 1-0 Benfica
1993 – Olympique Marseille 1-0 AC MILAN
1994 – AC MILAN 4-0 Barcelona
1995 – Ajax 1-0 AC MILAN
2003 – AC MILAN 0-0 Juventus (Milan won 3-2 on pens)
2005 – AC MILAN ?-? LIVERPOOL


THE MAKING OF THE LIVERPOOL LEGEND

The late, great Bill Shankly took Liverpool into the European Cup for the first time in their history in 1964-65, after they’d won the old English First Division championship the previous season. Shanks enjoyed three campaigns in the competition with his beloved Reds, but it was his successor and one-time assistant Bob Paisley who first brought Europe’s most coveted piece of silverware to Merseyside.

Liverpool had just retained their League title but lost narrowly in the FA Cup final to Manchester United before heading to Rome where they beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-1 with goals from McDermott, Smith and a Neal penalty.

The Reds retained the trophy by beating Bruges 1-0 at Wembley thanks to a Kenny Dalglish goal.

Three years later Liverpool were back in the final and travelled to Paris to take on Real Madrid at the Parc des Princes. The game was settled by a spectacular strike from full-back Alan Kennedy in the 81st minute., and meant English clubs had won the trophy five seasons in succession – emulating Real’s feat for Spain from 1956-60.

In 1984, the Reds reached the final again and the venue was Rome, scene of their first triumph in the competition. The opponents were the local team – AS Roma. By now Paisley had stepped down as manager but his assistant Joe Fagan had picked up the reins and achieved a seamless transition: Liverpool had already won the English championship for the third season in a row, and the League Cup for the fourth, by the time they travelled to the Eternal City.

After 14 minutes Neal – the only survivor from their first European Cup success on the same pitch seven years earlier – put the Reds ahead. But Pruzzo headed an equaliser for Roma just before half-time. Neither the second half nor extra tome produced a winner, so the final went to penalties.
Nicol blazed the first kick over the bar, while Roma converted theirs. Neal scored for Liverpool but Conti also skied his effort: one each. Graziani missed with score at 3-2, leaving Alan Kennedy to make history by settling the first penalty shoot-out in then 28-year history of the European Cup.

Liverpool were back in the final to defend their title in 1985, but the match – which Juventus won 1-0 through a Platini penalty – will forever be a footnote after the earlier mayhem on the terraces of the Heysel Stadium in Brussels that left 39 people, nearly all of them Italian fans, dead.

The matches between Liverpool and Juventus in this year’s Champions League afforded an opportunity for respects to be formally paid by Liverpool to the dead exactly 20 years after the horrific event.

Now the Reds go into their first European Cup final since then, and their first ever in the Champions League era.

1977 – LIVERPOOL 3-1 Borussia Moenchengladbach
1978 - LIVERPOOL 1-0 Bruges
1981 – LIVERPOOL 1-0 Real Madrid
1984 – LIVERPOOL 1-1 AS Roma (Liverpool won 4-2 on pens)
1985 – Juventus 1-0 LIVERPOOL
2005 -  LIVERPOOL ?-? AC MILAN




i have no idea who is going to win this one, hope its a good game for neutrals tho...

[Mac 10 †]

some of my thoughts...



AC Milan are without midfielder Massimo Ambrosini, who has a thigh injury but are otherwise at full strength for Wednesday's Champions League final.
Strikers Hernan Crespo and Filippo Inzaghi are vying for a starting place in the Milan front line.

Long-term absentee Chris Kirkland is the only player missing for Liverpool.

Milan Baros is set to start at the expense of Djibril Cisse, while Dietmar Hamann is likely to win a place in midfield at the expense of Igor Biscan.



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Head-to-head


AC Milan and Liverpool have never previously met in European competition.
AC Milan have played 22 matches against English clubs, winning eight, drawing seven and losing seven.
One of these was an European final - Milan beating Leeds United 1-0 in the 1973 Cup Winners' Cup final.
Liverpool have played 14 matches against Italian clubs, winning five, drawing three and losing six.
Two of these matches were Champions Cup finals. The first was in 1984 when Liverpool drew 1-1 against AS Roma in Roma's own stadium and won the trophy 4-2 on penalties.
The second was a year later against Juventus with the Turin based team winning 1-0 through a Michel Platini penalty.
European history- AC Milan


AC Milan have won six Champions Cup/Champions League trophies (1963, 1969, 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003).
Milan have also won two Cup Winners' Cups (1968, 1973), four Uefa Super Cups (1989, 1990, 1994, 2003) and three Intercontinental Cups (1969, 1989, 1990).
AC Milan are going for their third Champions League title which would equal Real Madrid's record of three.
AC Milan won the trophy in 1994 and 2003. Other than Real and Milan, no other team has won it more than once.
AC Milan have also lost two Champions League finals, both by 1-0 margins, to Olympique Marseille in 1993 and Ajax in 1995.

AC Milan have been eliminated from European competition by an English club on three occasions with the last happening in the 1978/1979 season.
In 1965/1966, Chelsea knocked AC Milan out of the Fairs Cup at the last 16 stage.
Tottenham Hotspur beat Milan on aggregate in the 1971/1972 Uefa Cup semi-final.
Manchester City were the victors against AC Milan in the quarter-final of the 1978/1979 Uefa Cup.
European history- Liverpool


Liverpool have won four Champions Cups (in 1977, 1978, 1981 and 1984). The Reds also won three Uefa Cups (1973, 1976, 2001) and two European Super Cups (1977, 2001)
However, reaching this season's Champions League final is Liverpool's best ever performance in the Champions League.
This season marks Liverpool's third CL participation. They previously reached the 2001/2002 quarter-finals and were knocked out at the first group stage a season later.
Liverpool's last appearance in the final of a European competition was in the 2000/2001 Uefa Cup season when they beat Alaves 5-4 in sudden death extra time after the match had ended in a 4-4 draw after 90 minutes.
The last time Liverpool reached a Champions Cup/Champions League final was 20 years ago when they lost 1-0 to Juventus in a final marred by crowd violence in which 39 people were killed.

Liverpool's very first European campaign was ended by an Italian club with Internazionale beating them in the semi-final of the 1964/1965 Champions Cup.
Since then, Italian clubs have ended Liverpool's participation on just two more occasions.
Juventus beat Liverpool in the 1984/1985 Champions Cup final and Genoa knocked Liverpool out in their next European participation - the 1991/1992 Uefa Cup - at the quarter-final stage.
Current European form - AC Milan


AC Milan have won six of their last eight Champions League matches, drawing one and losing one.
AC Milan have lost twice in this season's Champions League - 2-1 in Barcelona and 3-1 at PSV in the semi-final second leg.
The semi-final against PSV is the only time that AC Milan have looked in trouble in this season's competition.
With the match almost over, the second leg score was 2-0 in PSV's favour which would have meant extra-time. However, Massimo Ambrosini headed an injury time goal and Phillip Cocu's immediate response for PSV was not enough to stop AC Milan progressing on away goals.

AC Milan's only failure to score in this season's Champions League came in their final group phase match when they drew 0-0 away to Celtic.
AC Milan have not drawn a Champions League match since - a total of six CL games without a draw.
Current European form - Liverpool


Liverpool have won four and drawn three of their last seven matches in the Champions League.
Liverpool have lost three matches in Europe this season, all by a score of 1-0.
In the third qualifying round in August, Liverpool lost at home to Grazer AK but their 2-0 away win was enough to put them through.
Liverpool lost two of their six Group A matches, away to Olympiacos in September and away to AS Monaco in November.
Liverpool were almost knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage. In their final match against Olympiacos, they needed to win 1-0 or by a margin of two goals. Liverpool conceded the first goal which meant that they needed to win 3-1 given that AS Monaco were winning comfortably in La Coruna. The equaliser came after 47 minutes but with 10 minutes to go, the score was still 1-1. Neil Mellor then made it 2-1 and captain Steven Gerrard scored the third goal with just four minutes remaining.
Liverpool have not conceded more than a single goal in any European match this season.
Liverpool have only scored one goal in their last three Champions League matches and it is very questionable whether Luis Garcia's winner against Chelsea should have been given.
They have also kept three clean sheets in those matches.
Player and disciplinary info - AC Milan


No players are suspended for the final.
Milan striker Andrei Shevchenko has scored 34 Champions League goals in his career whilst teammate Filippo Inzaghi has 30 to his name.
16 of Shevchenko's 34 CL goals were opening goals.
With his opening goal against PSV in the first leg of the semi-final, Shevchenko equalled the record for most opening goals which is held by Raul.
Andrei Shevchenko has netted six times in the 2004/2005 CL season. Van Nistelrooy (eight), Adriano (seven), Makaay (seven) and Wiltord (six) are the only players to have netted at least as many goals.

Goalkeeper Dida kept the second longest streak without conceding a goal ever in the Champions League earlier this season.
His total of 622 minutes without conceding a goal was 36 minutes short of Edwin van der Sar's competition record when it was ended by PSV's Park.
Captain Paolo Maldini is the second oldest captain ever in a Champions Cup/Champions League final.
Maldini will be 36 years 10 months and 29 days on final day. Only Barcelona captain Antonio Ramallets was older when he played in the 1961 final.
If Milan win the final, Maldini will be the oldest captain to lift the trophy beating Peter Schmeichel who was 35 years, six months and eight days old when Manchester United won in 1999.

Maldini will play in his seventh Champions Cup/Champions League final having already appeared in 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 2003.
This equals the total of Alfredo di Stefano and is one short of the record of eight held by Real Madrid's Francisco Gento.
Maldini's teammate Alessandro Costacurta can become only the fourth man in history to play in six Champions Cup/Champions League finals if he takes the field. He previously played in 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995 and 2003.
If Costacurta plays, he will be the oldest outfield player ever in a Champions Cup/Champions League final. He will beat Lothar Matthaus' record by nearly a year and rise from his current fifth position.
Goalkeeper Dino Zoff is the only player to have played a Champions Cup/Champions League final at a more advanced age than Costacurta. Zoff was 41 years, two months and 27 days when he played for Juventus in 1983.

Clarence Seedorf is the only player to have won the Champions League with three different clubs. He won with Ajax in 1995, Real Madrid in 1998 and AC Milan in 2003.
Seedorf is one of only seven players to have won European trophies with three different clubs.
Paolo Maldini is Milan's most experienced Champions League player with 86 appearances, all for AC Milan.
Five other Milan players - Clarence Seedorf (70), Andrei Shevchenko (66), Alessandro Costacurta (61), Alessandro Nesta (52) and Filippo Inzaghi (50) have broken the half century barrier.
Dida, Maldini, Seedorf and Kaka have played in all 12 of Milan's Champions League matches this season.
None of Milan's players have been on the pitch for every minute of their Champions League campaign.
Player and disciplinary info - Liverpool


No players are suspended for the final.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard will be the third youngest captain to play in a Champions Cup/Champions League final.
On final day, Gerrard will be 24 years, 11 months and 25 days old. Only Benfica's Antonio Pancheco (1990) and Olympique Marseille's Didier Deschamps (1993) were younger.
If Liverpool win the trophy, Gerrard will be the second youngest captain ever to lift the trophy. He is three and a half months older than Deschamps was in 1993.
Gerrard is the fifth player to captain Liverpool in a Champions Cup/Champions League final and the youngest by more than two years. Phil Thompson was the previous youngest in 1981.

Luis Garcia is Liverpool's top scorer in this season's Champions League with five goals. He is joint sixth in the top scorers list for the competition.
With Morientes (70 CL career matches, 26 goals) and Mauricio Pellegrino (45 CL career matches) not eligible, Jerzy Dudek is the most experienced player in the Liverpool squad with 43 CL appearances and Luis Garcia is the most dangerous striker with five CL career goals.
Four of Liverpool's players have played all 12 Champions League fixtures - Steve Finnan, John Arne Riise, Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia are the quartet.
Hyypia is the only player on either side to have played every minute of his club's CL fixtures this season.
Liverpool's Vladimir Smicer will celebrate his 32nd birthday on the day before the Champions League final.
Other miscellaneous facts


AC Milan trainer Carlo Ancelotti is one of only four people to have won the Champions Cup/Champions League as both player and trainer. He won the 1989 and 1990 competitions as a player and won as a trainer in 2003.
The other people to have achieved this are Miguel Munoz, Giovanni Trapattoni and Johan Cruijff. Only Munoz won more than once as both a player and trainer.
Ancelotti can become the 15th trainer to win the Champions Cup/Champions League more than once.
The last person to achieve this was Vicente del Bosque, who won it 2000 and 2002 as trainer of Real Madrid.
Currently, Liverpool do not have a place in next season's Champions League if they win the trophy. The FA have decided to give the fourth place to Everton.

Liverpool finished the Premiership season three points behind Everton in fifth position.
Liverpool trainer Rafael Benitez is aiming to become the 14th trainer to win a European trophy in successive seasons. Former Liverpool trainer Bob Paisley is the record holder winning the Uefa Cup in 1976 and the Champions Cup in 1977 and 1978.
As last season's triumph for Benitez was with Valencia, he will be the first to achieve this with different clubs.
Two trainers have won the Uefa Cup and followed it up with the Champions Cup/Champions League the following season.
Bob Paisley in 1976 and 1977 was the first and last season, then FC Porto trainer José Mourinho became the second person to do it.

Liverpool will probably start the final with just two domestic players, Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard. This will be the lowest ever total of domestic players starting an Champions Cup/Champions League final.
Liverpool will play the final in red against a team in white. On each of the four occasions that they won the Champions Cup, they played in red against a team playing in white.
AC Milan will play in white. They have won two of their three Champions League finals playing in white. They won in 1994 and 2003 but they also played in white in 1995 when they lost 1-0 to Ajax.

AC Milan will finish second in this season's Serie A. Their 3-3 draw at home to Palermo on Friday, 20 May handed the championship to Juventus.
Liverpool finished fifth in this season's Premiership. They also reached the Carling Cup final, losing 3-2 to Chelsea.


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European Cup/Champions League Final General stats


The 2005 Champions League final will produce the 50th winner of the Champions Cup/Champions League.
There have been 49 previous finals with 50 matches played because of a replay in 1973/1974.
38 of the 50 matches have been settled in normal time.
Four have been won in extra-time whilst the remaining eight have had no decision after extra-time.
Of those eight, seven were settled on a penalty shoot-out and one was settled in a replay.

15 finals have been decided by a score of 1-0, the most common scoreline.
The biggest wins have been by four goals - Real Madrid beat Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 in 1960, Bayern Munich beat Atletico Madrid 4-0 in the 1974 replay, AC Milan beat Steaua Bucharest 4-0 in 1989 and FC Barcelona by the same score in 1994.
In total, 129 goals have been scored at an average of 2.58 per match.
Of these, 51 came in the first half, 70 in the second half and eight in extra-time.
The 15 minute interval in the match with most goals comes between the 61st and 75th minutes where 33 goals have been scored.

The team scoring the first goal have won the final 31 times without the need for a penalty shoot-out. The team conceding the first goal has won 11 times without the need for a penalty shoot-out.
Real Madrid have scored most goals in finals with a total of 30. This year's finalists AC Milan have scored the second highest total of 17. Liverpool's total is just six goals in five finals.
18 different Spanish players and the same number of (West) German players have scored in the 49 previous finals.
There have been four hat-tricks in the finals, the last one coming in 1969 when AC Milan's Pierino Prati scored three goals in the 4-1 win against Ajax.
The quickest goal in a Champions Cup/Champions League final was in the first minute of the 1959 final when Enrique Mateos scored the opener for Real Madrid in their 2-0 win over Stade de Reims.

AC Milan goalkeeper Dida kept a clean sheet in the 2003 final. One more hour without a goal conceded will give him 180 minutes in Champions League finals without a goal against.
Only five goalkeepers have achieved three hours in the final without a goal against, the record being 276 minutes by Bayern Munich's Sepp Maier across three finals in the 1970s.
The last to achieve this was AC Milan goalkeeper Giovanni Galli who kept clean sheets in the 1989 and 1990 finals.
Most successful clubs and countries in the 49 previous finals


Real Madrid hold the record of finals won with nine.
21 different clubs in total have won the 49 previous Champions Cup/Champions League finals.
36 different clubs have played in a Champions Cup/Champions League final.
Last year's finalists AS Monaco were the last team to make their first ever final appearance.

Spanish and Italian clubs have won 10 Champions Cup/Champions League finals each. English clubs are the next most successful with nine victories.
In total, clubs from 10 different countries have won the competition.
France were the last to add themselves to the list with Olympique Marseille's win in 1993.
Clubs from 13 countries have contested the final. Belgium, Greece and Sweden are the only countries whose finalists have failed to take the trophy home.

[acbaylove]

Fuck Liverpool.
Fuck AC Milan (twice).

So i'm hoping AC Milan will loose.