The San Siro crowd was in raptures and many households on Merseyside also had a jolly evening. Any 3-0 defeat for Manchester United counts as a jewel of television scheduling if you are a Liverpool supporter, write Kevin McCarraand Daniel Taylor.
In sporting rivalry there is always a gasp of relief beneath the jeering and fans of the Anfield club will be content they no longer risk a defeat to their north-west foes in the Champions League final.
Rafael Benitez will not have gasped at the aplomb of Kaka and Clarence Seedorf nor been awestruck by the beautifully structured midfield. The Liverpool manager is more likely to have been preoccupied with keeping track of United flaws that should not be present in his own team. His squad will make it a more gruelling evening in the Olympic Stadium.
Milan will not have the benefit either of Benitez's mistakes in 2005 that obliged Liverpool, 3-0 down, to achieve one of the most extraordinary recoveries in the history of football. Liverpool started in Istanbul with no defensive cover in midfield. This time Kaka and the rest should anticipate being as jostled as rush-hour commuters.
Chelsea, Benitez's victims on Tuesday, got that harassment and dished out plenty of their own, but Milan could justly declare that they have a far superior finesse to either.
Disrupting opponents like Milan on one specific occasion is Benitez's specialist subject. Despite the goals at San Siro this week, it is encouraging for Liverpool to know that Hernan Crespo is no longer at Ancelotti's disposal, as he was two years ago. There is now a pressure on the Milan midfield to take responsibility for virtually everything since the forwards are not to be trusted.
Jamie Carragher will never quake at the thought of marking Pippo Inzaghi, despite the Italian's scoring statistics. The other striker, Alberto Gilardino, on as a substitute, did strike a goal this week, but Milan were already 2-0 up and it did not prove he is over the stage fright that usually throttles him on Champions League nights.
If Liverpool needed any further incentive to repeat their 2005 defeat of Milan, it may have come in the form of the Italians' midfield terrier Gennaro Gatuso yesterday describing Benitez's side as a "1990s side".
Gattuso believes Milan's opponents in the May 23rd final are inferior to Manchester United in aesthetic terms, claiming "all they do is play long balls".
Gattuso is already an unpopular figure at Anfield, particularly with captain Steven Gerrard, because of his provocative behaviour during the 2005 final in Istanbul and, as he reflected on Wednesday's 3-0 defeat of United, the Italian was cutting, to say the least.
"I feel there is a noticeable difference in talent between Manchester United and Liverpool and that we have beaten the better side of the two," he said. "United have far more technical players, who are quick and able to do things on the ball.
"Liverpool do not have those individuals. What they have is a way of playing as a team. They are like an Italian team of 10 years ago. All they try to do is defend together, with everybody behind the ball and just one striker. Every ball is a long ball."
Gattuso's comments will be of interest to the Liverpool players, in particular Gerrard, who describes the former Rangers player in his autobiography as "over-rated", stating: "I wasn't worried about Gattuso before the game, during the game or after. To me, he's all mouth. He looks aggressive, but in fact he's as scary as a kitten."
Gerrard claims Gattuso was the "one Milan player who had a smirk on his face leaving the pitch at half-time" but the Italian denied that. "I didn't do that at all," he said. "It was wrong to say that."
He added: "For me, it's not about Gattuso against Gerrard, despite what he has said about me. In my opinion Gerrard is the best player in England. He is a technical player, who plays very hard and with his heart. He is a legend for his club and the best player they have got."
United, for their part, could not console themselves with the claim that they had tested Milan to the limits.
Alex Ferguson said last month he would be happy just to recover the Premiership title this season and that was more than a mere ploy to relieve the strain on a squad running out of both players and, perhaps, the intensity essential to quell Milan.
There were countless errors from United in San Siro. Ferguson must have been disappointed by the showings of Cristiano Ronaldo and other creative figures, but it was possible to sympathise. How could they breathe easily when the air was clogged with the dust of a defence being demolished behind them?
Reintroducing Nemanja Vidic, out of action for a month after breaking his collarbone, was a calamitous decision by Ferguson. There is no certainty, however, that any other selection by the manager would have been better when he still did not have Gary Neville or Rio Ferdinand ready to start.
This will have been an outstanding season for United so long as they attend to the remaining Premiership business. The squad will need improvement. Watching Gattuso's vitality empower the rest of the Milan midfield, Ferguson's pursuit of the comparable Owen Hargreaves made sense.
Steps will have to be taken eventually to find successors to Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, because their revitalisation in this campaign cannot last.
The final insult for United came at the airport when a baggage problem delayed their flight from Milan by two hours. It was 5am before some of the players got to bed and the next concern is how a gruelling evening, played in torrential rain, and the emotional side-effects of being so outplayed, might affect the team before tomorrow's derby at Manchester City.
