AC Milan are desperate to beat Liverpool in the Champions League final to erase the memory of their nightmare defeat at the hands of the Merseysiders in the Istanbul final two years ago.
Milan set up the chance for revenge with a superb 3-0 semifinal, second-leg victory over Liverpool’s Premiership rivals Manchester United on Wednesday for a 5-3 aggregate victory.
Goals inside the first half hour from Kaka and Clarence Seedorf put Milan in the driving seat at a rain-drenched San Siro before substitute Alberto Gilardino completed United’s misery.
Milan are now relishing the chance to make amends for their loss to Liverpool in the 2005 final when they threw away a three-goal half-time lead in six mad minutes to draw 3-3, before losing a penalty shoot-out.
”Now let’s take back the cup we gave to them in 2005,” said AC Milan president Silvio Berlusconi.
The former Italian prime minister insisted his team would be better prepared for penalties this time around.
”In the final in Istanbul, Liverpool’s keeper [Jerzy Dudek] succeeded in putting our players off by moving a lot on his line, and so now we will practice taking penalties against a keeper who is moving all the time.”
Kaka, whose early strike took his tally in the competition to 10 in 12 matches, is hoping to score twice in the final to equal Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Champions League record of 12 goals.
”It would be incredible if I could score twice in the final and become [joint] all-time top scorer, but the most important thing is that the team lifts the trophy,” said the talented Brazilian.
”It will be wonderful to face Liverpool again and we hope this time things will be different.
”It’s a great chance to win a match we should have won two years ago. I don’t look at it as revenge, more an opportunity to make up for that day.”
United coach Sir Alex Ferguson defended his decision not to man-mark Kaka, whose two goals in the 3-2 first leg defeat at Old Trafford last week laid the foundations for Milan’s victory.
”Kaka is a wonderful player who floats from side to side behind the strikers,” said the Scotsman.
”He has wonderful movement, a long stride and is deceptive with his space. But it’s not our style to man mark and that sometimes brings complications, leaving it up to the nearest defender to deal with him.”
Ferguson lamented his team’s inability to keep hold of the ball, but insisted they would bounce back in Saturday’s crunch Manchester derby against City.
”They caught us on the back foot at the start, but I still felt we could have done better,” he said.
”The name of the game in Europe is that you don’t give the ball away, and Milan kept possession better than us.
”But the nature of our football club is that you have to recover from disappointments, and we will have to do that on Saturday.
United could win the Premiership title this weekend if they defeat Manchester City and second-placed Chelsea fail to beat Arsenal. — Sapa-AFP