SOCCER/Uefa Champions League final, AC Milan 2 Liverpool 1:This was revenge for Milan as they atoned for the famous fiasco against Liverpool in 2005, but neither club last night struck the heights they had attained in the past two months, writes Kevin McCarrain Athens
Carlo Ancelotti's players will argue that they had a little more style, as was apparent in the second goal of the night from Filippo Inzaghi, which made a late reply from Dirk Kuyt an irrelevance. Above all, Milan will be content at a seventh European Cup triumph that rounded off a subdued season in Serie A.
Liverpool enjoyed spells in which they made their opponents anxious, yet there was never an onslaught on Milan. Rafael Benitez left Athens with only ammunition for his arguments that large sums of money are needed if he is to have the creativity in his squad and the goalmouth presence to test the greatest opponents on a regular basis.
Dismay comes in a variety of forms. Two years ago, Liverpool had to battle back from an instant opener from Milan in Istanbul. Here the Italian team applied a different sort of stress, striking seconds from the interval, through an accidental deflection off Inzaghi's shoulder, to guarantee that their opponents would go down the tunnel perplexed and disappointed.
The wounding puzzlement would have been natural in footballers who knew the first half had otherwise gone well.
As anticipated, Liverpool matched the Milan head count in midfield, with Steven Gerrard acting as a fifth man there whenever he dropped back from his advanced role. Benitez's men, nonetheless, were not slavish imitators of the Serie A club. Nor were they set on smothering the game.
Their supporters did not mind being excused the wild emotional fluctuations of Istanbul and the comeback triumph over Milan in 2005. It was gratifying for a while to see the maturity of the current team. Liverpool started with a certain amount of bouyancy, considering how an occasion can weigh men down.
Milan might have beaten Manchester United 3-0 at the San Siro in the semi-final, but that brilliance was not carried forward.
These are both flawed sides, as humdrum records in their domestic programmes show, but Liverpool had looked more likely to raise their standards. After Marek Jankulovski lost possession in the 10th minute, Kuyt set up Jermaine Pennant for an angled drive that was blocked by Dida.
Pennant was prominent in the 36th minute before Gerrard teed up Kuyt for an attempt that Alessandro Nesta blocked. Liverpool were thriving then, even if their ration of possession was smaller than Milan's. Their opponents looked as if they had identified weaknesses yet could not exploit them as efficiently as they wished.
Ancelotti must have insisted they take on the left-back John Arne Riise. The effective Massimo Oddo burst past the Norwegian after 21 minutes, but Milan defused the situation when Massimo Ambrosini fouled Pennant as the cross was delivered.
There were cameos of elusive excellence from Kaka, but he had been contained sufficiently for it to be a surprise when Xabi Alonso fouled him close to the penalty area. Andrea Pirlo took the free-kick and it pinged off Inzaghi for exactly the sort of messy goal that epitomises the value of an annoyingly regular scorer of undistinguished goals.
It was understandable that Liverpool should be stunned, but the fightback expected of them was never to materialise fully. Benitez took as much remedial action as he could, replacing Bolo Zenden with Harry Kewell and then Javier Mascherano with an extra attacker in Peter Crouch.
A despondent club will remember the second half for the single, cherishable opportunity to equalise before Milan extended their lead. In the 62nd minute, Kuyt passed to Gerrard and the captain raced past Nesta before being too deliberate with the finish that Dida saved to his left.
Milan doubled their advantage expertly. With eight minutes to go Kaka advanced to lay on an exact pass through the inside-right channel and Inzaghi, with a well-timed run, gathered the ball and rounded Pepe Reina before finishing from an angle.
In the 89th minute Daniel Agger glanced on a Pennant corner and Kuyt headed home. This time, all the same, there was merely to be a painful parody of the heroic recovery that had made Liverpool such astonishing Champions League winners in 2005.
AC MILAN:Dida, Oddo, Nesta, Maldini, Jankulovski (Kaladze 79), Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini, Seedorf (Favalli 90), Kaka, Inzaghi (Gilardino 88). Subs not used: Kalac, Cafu, Serginho, Brocchi. Booked: Gattuso, Jankulovski.
LIVERPOOL:Reina, Finnan (Arbeloa 88), Carragher, Agger, Riise, Pennant, Alonso, Mascherano (Crouch 78), Zenden (Kewell 59), Gerrard, Kuyt. Subs not used: Dudek, Hyypia, Gonzalez, Bellamy. Booked: Mascherano, Carragher.
Referee:Herbert Fandel (Germany).
