Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez insisted Liverpool would not fear AC Milan or PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League final after writing another glorious chapter in their rich European history.
Benitez accepts that Liverpool will be classed as underdogs if, as expected, AC Milan overcome PSV in their semi-final second leg in Eindhoven tonight with a 2-0 lead to defend.
But having now eclipsed even their quarter-final success against Juventus with an historic triumph against Chelsea, he insists his team are ready to battle for the club's fifth European Cup triumph.
"Each time this season, the favourites against us have lost, so we would be happy to have the same situation again," he declared.
"We need to wait to see the team that we play against but it's the same to us either way, although normally it would be AC Milan, with the experience of Italian teams and being 2-0 up.
"But after that, why can't we win? If we have beaten Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus and Chelsea, why not AC Milan or PSV? It's possible, for sure. "If you play in the final, it's for winning, not for losing."
Benitez had declared his confidence that Liverpool would make it past Chelsea and that belief was fully justified as they rose to the occasion last night. There was still considerable controversy over their match-winning goal, with William Gallas having insisted that he cleared the ball off the line.
However, referee Lubos Michel and assistant Roman Slysko concluded that Luis Garcia's effort had crossed the line before Gallas' intervention. That left Jose Mourinho accusing Slysko of being intimidated by the incredible atmosphere within Anfield, claiming that the "best team had lost".
However, Benitez insisted that Liverpool would otherwise have deserved a penalty and a red card for Petr Cech after the keeper seemingly brought down Milan Baros after being lobbed by the striker.
With Baros knocked to the ground, Garcia seized on the loose ball and prodded it goalwards with just four minutes gone. Liverpool thereafter defended and tackled as if their careers depended on it, with Jamie Carragher once again inspirational at the heart of their defence.
Indeed, Chelsea's best chance came towards the end of an amazing six minutes of injury-time, when Carragher appeared to deflect Eidur Gudjohnsen's close-range shot agonisingly wide.
But Liverpool held on for their first European Cup final in 20 years since the ill-fated game at the Heysel Stadium, as well as being English football's first representatives since 1999.
Benitez, who won the UEFA Cup with Valencia last year, paid tribute to the incredible support of the Anfield fans, believing that it had inspired his players to extra heights.
"To work hard and have our supporters behind us and believing until the end, you run a little bit more," he said. "Before, I said that they were maybe the best supporters in England. Now maybe they are the best supporters in Europe."
PA