Soccer/Champions League final: If Rafael Benitez and his key lieutenants needed reminding of the scale of the task they face, they had only to arrive early for their appointment with Europe's media at the Ataturk Stadium yesterday.
Liverpool's manager would have seen the Milanese delegation departing with Paolo Maldini at its head. If experience alone won finals, there would have been no complaints had Milan's captain tucked the trophy under his arm as he left.
At 36, and a veteran of almost 900 club and international matches, he will tonight lead his team in his seventh European Cup or Champions League final.
On four occasions, including the stunning 1994 4-0 demolition of Barcelona that ended the original champions-only era, he has been victorious.
Win or lose, Maldini recalls all six finals, though they are starting to blur. "It is a little difficult to come up with a different memory of each," he said without a hint of conceit.
They do have one thing in common, however. They show an ambitious player found an ambitious club, and over these years together it has been interesting for both to play in six such games.
He says the thrill does not fade. "There is an emotional difference between today and my first final (1989), there is a different pressure. I was just 20 in my first final and less serene. My heart will still beat fast before the game, but I hope I can control it and make the right decisions once the game starts."
Maldini's serenity is one reason his coach, Carlo Ancelotti, a team-mate in that 1989 final, was able to assert he has slept well since arriving here.
Add the defensive might of Alessandro Nesta and Kaka's invention, and Ancelotti's confidence that Milan have the weapons to win was understandable.
Ancelotti looks increasingly likely to play Jaap Stam alongside Nesta in central defence, while moving Maldini to left back.
The other question mark over the Milan team is whether Hernan Crespo or Filippo Inzaghi starts in attack alongside Andriy Shevchenko.
Benitez has a similar dilemma with Igor Biscan and Dietmar Hamann vying for a place in a five-man midfield. He must also decide between Milan Baros and Djibril Cisse as his main striker.
Liverpool's top scorer in Europe this season has been Luis Garcia. The former Barcelona player has scored five goals from midfield, including a spectacular strike against Juventus in the quarter-finals and the controversial winner against Chelsea.
PROBABLE TEAMS
AC MILAN: Dida; Cafu, A Nesta, P Maldini, K Kaladze (or J Stam); G Gattuso, A Pirlo, C Seedorf; Kaka; H Crespo (or F Inzaghi), A Shevchenko.
LIVERPOOL: J Dudek; S Finnan, J Carragher, S Hyypia, D Traore; D Hamann (or I Biscan), S Gerrard, X Alonso, JA Riise, L Garcia; M Baros (or D Cisse).
Referee: ME Mejuto Gonzalez (Spa).
