Post by Taxigirl on May 25, 2005 7:42:02 GMT
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/4573159.stm
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL
Wednesday 25 May
Kick-off 1945 BST
Ataturk Stadium, Istanbul
AC Milan are without midfielder Massimo Ambrosini, who has a thigh injury but are otherwise at full strength for Wednesday's Champions League final.
Strikers Hernan Crespo and Filippo Inzaghi are vying for a starting place in the Milan front line.
Long-term absentee Chris Kirkland is the only player missing for Liverpool.
Milan Baros is set to start at the expense of Djibril Cisse, while Dietmar Hamann is likely to win a place in midfield at the expense of Igor Biscan.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Head-to-head
AC Milan and Liverpool have never previously met in European competition.
AC Milan have played 22 matches against English clubs, winning eight, drawing seven and losing seven.
One of these was an European final - Milan beating Leeds United 1-0 in the 1973 Cup Winners' Cup final.
Liverpool have played 14 matches against Italian clubs, winning five, drawing three and losing six.
Two of these matches were Champions Cup finals. The first was in 1984 when Liverpool drew 1-1 against AS Roma in Roma's own stadium and won the trophy 4-2 on penalties.
The second was a year later against Juventus with the Turin based team winning 1-0 through a Michel Platini penalty.
European history- AC Milan
AC Milan have won six Champions Cup/Champions League trophies (1963, 1969, 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003).
Milan have also won two Cup Winners' Cups (1968, 1973), four Uefa Super Cups (1989, 1990, 1994, 2003) and three Intercontinental Cups (1969, 1989, 1990).
AC Milan are going for their third Champions League title which would equal Real Madrid's record of three.
AC Milan won the trophy in 1994 and 2003. Other than Real and Milan, no other team has won it more than once.
AC Milan have also lost two Champions League finals, both by 1-0 margins, to Olympique Marseille in 1993 and Ajax in 1995.
AC Milan have been eliminated from European competition by an English club on three occasions with the last happening in the 1978/1979 season.
In 1965/1966, Chelsea knocked AC Milan out of the Fairs Cup at the last 16 stage.
Tottenham Hotspur beat Milan on aggregate in the 1971/1972 Uefa Cup semi-final.
Manchester City were the victors against AC Milan in the quarter-final of the 1978/1979 Uefa Cup.
European history- Liverpool
Liverpool have won four Champions Cups (in 1977, 1978, 1981 and 1984). The Reds also won three Uefa Cups (1973, 1976, 2001) and two European Super Cups (1977, 2001)
However, reaching this season's Champions League final is Liverpool's best ever performance in the Champions League.
This season marks Liverpool's third CL participation. They previously reached the 2001/2002 quarter-finals and were knocked out at the first group stage a season later.
Liverpool's last appearance in the final of a European competition was in the 2000/2001 Uefa Cup season when they beat Alaves 5-4 in sudden death extra time after the match had ended in a 4-4 draw after 90 minutes.
The last time Liverpool reached a Champions Cup/Champions League final was 20 years ago when they lost 1-0 to Juventus in a final marred by crowd violence in which 39 people were killed.
Liverpool's very first European campaign was ended by an Italian club with Internazionale beating them in the semi-final of the 1964/1965 Champions Cup.
Since then, Italian clubs have ended Liverpool's participation on just two more occasions.
Juventus beat Liverpool in the 1984/1985 Champions Cup final and Genoa knocked Liverpool out in their next European participation - the 1991/1992 Uefa Cup - at the quarter-final stage.
Current European form - AC Milan
AC Milan have won six of their last eight Champions League matches, drawing one and losing one.
AC Milan have lost twice in this season's Champions League - 2-1 in Barcelona and 3-1 at PSV in the semi-final second leg.
The semi-final against PSV is the only time that AC Milan have looked in trouble in this season's competition.
With the match almost over, the second leg score was 2-0 in PSV's favour which would have meant extra-time. However, Massimo Ambrosini headed an injury time goal and Phillip Cocu's immediate response for PSV was not enough to stop AC Milan progressing on away goals.
AC Milan's only failure to score in this season's Champions League came in their final group phase match when they drew 0-0 away to Celtic.
AC Milan have not drawn a Champions League match since - a total of six CL games without a draw.
Current European form - Liverpool
Liverpool have won four and drawn three of their last seven matches in the Champions League.
Liverpool have lost three matches in Europe this season, all by a score of 1-0.
In the third qualifying round in August, Liverpool lost at home to Grazer AK but their 2-0 away win was enough to put them through.
Liverpool lost two of their six Group A matches, away to Olympiacos in September and away to AS Monaco in November.
Liverpool were almost knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage. In their final match against Olympiacos, they needed to win 1-0 or by a margin of two goals. Liverpool conceded the first goal which meant that they needed to win 3-1 given that AS Monaco were winning comfortably in La Coruna. The equaliser came after 47 minutes but with 10 minutes to go, the score was still 1-1. Neil Mellor then made it 2-1 and captain Steven Gerrard scored the third goal with just four minutes remaining.
Liverpool have not conceded more than a single goal in any European match this season.
Liverpool have only scored one goal in their last three Champions League matches and it is very questionable whether Luis Garcia's winner against Chelsea should have been given.
They have also kept three clean sheets in those matches.
Player and disciplinary info - AC Milan
No players are suspended for the final.
Milan striker Andrei Shevchenko has scored 34 Champions League goals in his career whilst teammate Filippo Inzaghi has 30 to his name.
16 of Shevchenko's 34 CL goals were opening goals.
With his opening goal against PSV in the first leg of the semi-final, Shevchenko equalled the record for most opening goals which is held by Raul.
Andrei Shevchenko has netted six times in the 2004/2005 CL season. Van Nistelrooy (eight), Adriano (seven), Makaay (seven) and Wiltord (six) are the only players to have netted at least as many goals.
Goalkeeper Dida kept the second longest streak without conceding a goal ever in the Champions League earlier this season.
His total of 622 minutes without conceding a goal was 36 minutes short of Edwin van der Sar's competition record when it was ended by PSV's Park.
Captain Paolo Maldini is the second oldest captain ever in a Champions Cup/Champions League final.
Maldini will be 36 years 10 months and 29 days on final day. Only Barcelona captain Antonio Ramallets was older when he played in the 1961 final.
If Milan win the final, Maldini will be the oldest captain to lift the trophy beating Peter Schmeichel who was 35 years, six months and eight days old when Manchester United won in 1999.
Maldini will play in his seventh Champions Cup/Champions League final having already appeared in 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 2003.
This equals the total of Alfredo di Stefano and is one short of the record of eight held by Real Madrid's Francisco Gento.
Maldini's teammate Alessandro Costacurta can become only the fourth man in history to play in six Champions Cup/Champions League finals if he takes the field. He previously played in 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995 and 2003.
If Costacurta plays, he will be the oldest outfield player ever in a Champions Cup/Champions League final. He will beat Lothar Matthaus' record by nearly a year and rise from his current fifth position.
Goalkeeper Dino Zoff is the only player to have played a Champions Cup/Champions League final at a more advanced age than Costacurta. Zoff was 41 years, two months and 27 days when he played for Juventus in 1983.
Clarence Seedorf is the only player to have won the Champions League with three different clubs. He won with Ajax in 1995, Real Madrid in 1998 and AC Milan in 2003.
Seedorf is one of only seven players to have won European trophies with three different clubs.
Paolo Maldini is Milan's most experienced Champions League player with 86 appearances, all for AC Milan.
Five other Milan players - Clarence Seedorf (70), Andrei Shevchenko (66), Alessandro Costacurta (61), Alessandro Nesta (52) and Filippo Inzaghi (50) have broken the half century barrier.
Dida, Maldini, Seedorf and Kaka have played in all 12 of Milan's Champions League matches this season.
None of Milan's players have been on the pitch for every minute of their Champions League campaign.
Player and disciplinary info - Liverpool
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL
Wednesday 25 May
Kick-off 1945 BST
Ataturk Stadium, Istanbul
AC Milan are without midfielder Massimo Ambrosini, who has a thigh injury but are otherwise at full strength for Wednesday's Champions League final.
Strikers Hernan Crespo and Filippo Inzaghi are vying for a starting place in the Milan front line.
Long-term absentee Chris Kirkland is the only player missing for Liverpool.
Milan Baros is set to start at the expense of Djibril Cisse, while Dietmar Hamann is likely to win a place in midfield at the expense of Igor Biscan.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Head-to-head
AC Milan and Liverpool have never previously met in European competition.
AC Milan have played 22 matches against English clubs, winning eight, drawing seven and losing seven.
One of these was an European final - Milan beating Leeds United 1-0 in the 1973 Cup Winners' Cup final.
Liverpool have played 14 matches against Italian clubs, winning five, drawing three and losing six.
Two of these matches were Champions Cup finals. The first was in 1984 when Liverpool drew 1-1 against AS Roma in Roma's own stadium and won the trophy 4-2 on penalties.
The second was a year later against Juventus with the Turin based team winning 1-0 through a Michel Platini penalty.
European history- AC Milan
AC Milan have won six Champions Cup/Champions League trophies (1963, 1969, 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003).
Milan have also won two Cup Winners' Cups (1968, 1973), four Uefa Super Cups (1989, 1990, 1994, 2003) and three Intercontinental Cups (1969, 1989, 1990).
AC Milan are going for their third Champions League title which would equal Real Madrid's record of three.
AC Milan won the trophy in 1994 and 2003. Other than Real and Milan, no other team has won it more than once.
AC Milan have also lost two Champions League finals, both by 1-0 margins, to Olympique Marseille in 1993 and Ajax in 1995.
AC Milan have been eliminated from European competition by an English club on three occasions with the last happening in the 1978/1979 season.
In 1965/1966, Chelsea knocked AC Milan out of the Fairs Cup at the last 16 stage.
Tottenham Hotspur beat Milan on aggregate in the 1971/1972 Uefa Cup semi-final.
Manchester City were the victors against AC Milan in the quarter-final of the 1978/1979 Uefa Cup.
European history- Liverpool
Liverpool have won four Champions Cups (in 1977, 1978, 1981 and 1984). The Reds also won three Uefa Cups (1973, 1976, 2001) and two European Super Cups (1977, 2001)
However, reaching this season's Champions League final is Liverpool's best ever performance in the Champions League.
This season marks Liverpool's third CL participation. They previously reached the 2001/2002 quarter-finals and were knocked out at the first group stage a season later.
Liverpool's last appearance in the final of a European competition was in the 2000/2001 Uefa Cup season when they beat Alaves 5-4 in sudden death extra time after the match had ended in a 4-4 draw after 90 minutes.
The last time Liverpool reached a Champions Cup/Champions League final was 20 years ago when they lost 1-0 to Juventus in a final marred by crowd violence in which 39 people were killed.
Liverpool's very first European campaign was ended by an Italian club with Internazionale beating them in the semi-final of the 1964/1965 Champions Cup.
Since then, Italian clubs have ended Liverpool's participation on just two more occasions.
Juventus beat Liverpool in the 1984/1985 Champions Cup final and Genoa knocked Liverpool out in their next European participation - the 1991/1992 Uefa Cup - at the quarter-final stage.
Current European form - AC Milan
AC Milan have won six of their last eight Champions League matches, drawing one and losing one.
AC Milan have lost twice in this season's Champions League - 2-1 in Barcelona and 3-1 at PSV in the semi-final second leg.
The semi-final against PSV is the only time that AC Milan have looked in trouble in this season's competition.
With the match almost over, the second leg score was 2-0 in PSV's favour which would have meant extra-time. However, Massimo Ambrosini headed an injury time goal and Phillip Cocu's immediate response for PSV was not enough to stop AC Milan progressing on away goals.
AC Milan's only failure to score in this season's Champions League came in their final group phase match when they drew 0-0 away to Celtic.
AC Milan have not drawn a Champions League match since - a total of six CL games without a draw.
Current European form - Liverpool
Liverpool have won four and drawn three of their last seven matches in the Champions League.
Liverpool have lost three matches in Europe this season, all by a score of 1-0.
In the third qualifying round in August, Liverpool lost at home to Grazer AK but their 2-0 away win was enough to put them through.
Liverpool lost two of their six Group A matches, away to Olympiacos in September and away to AS Monaco in November.
Liverpool were almost knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage. In their final match against Olympiacos, they needed to win 1-0 or by a margin of two goals. Liverpool conceded the first goal which meant that they needed to win 3-1 given that AS Monaco were winning comfortably in La Coruna. The equaliser came after 47 minutes but with 10 minutes to go, the score was still 1-1. Neil Mellor then made it 2-1 and captain Steven Gerrard scored the third goal with just four minutes remaining.
Liverpool have not conceded more than a single goal in any European match this season.
Liverpool have only scored one goal in their last three Champions League matches and it is very questionable whether Luis Garcia's winner against Chelsea should have been given.
They have also kept three clean sheets in those matches.
Player and disciplinary info - AC Milan
No players are suspended for the final.
Milan striker Andrei Shevchenko has scored 34 Champions League goals in his career whilst teammate Filippo Inzaghi has 30 to his name.
16 of Shevchenko's 34 CL goals were opening goals.
With his opening goal against PSV in the first leg of the semi-final, Shevchenko equalled the record for most opening goals which is held by Raul.
Andrei Shevchenko has netted six times in the 2004/2005 CL season. Van Nistelrooy (eight), Adriano (seven), Makaay (seven) and Wiltord (six) are the only players to have netted at least as many goals.
Goalkeeper Dida kept the second longest streak without conceding a goal ever in the Champions League earlier this season.
His total of 622 minutes without conceding a goal was 36 minutes short of Edwin van der Sar's competition record when it was ended by PSV's Park.
Captain Paolo Maldini is the second oldest captain ever in a Champions Cup/Champions League final.
Maldini will be 36 years 10 months and 29 days on final day. Only Barcelona captain Antonio Ramallets was older when he played in the 1961 final.
If Milan win the final, Maldini will be the oldest captain to lift the trophy beating Peter Schmeichel who was 35 years, six months and eight days old when Manchester United won in 1999.
Maldini will play in his seventh Champions Cup/Champions League final having already appeared in 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 2003.
This equals the total of Alfredo di Stefano and is one short of the record of eight held by Real Madrid's Francisco Gento.
Maldini's teammate Alessandro Costacurta can become only the fourth man in history to play in six Champions Cup/Champions League finals if he takes the field. He previously played in 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995 and 2003.
If Costacurta plays, he will be the oldest outfield player ever in a Champions Cup/Champions League final. He will beat Lothar Matthaus' record by nearly a year and rise from his current fifth position.
Goalkeeper Dino Zoff is the only player to have played a Champions Cup/Champions League final at a more advanced age than Costacurta. Zoff was 41 years, two months and 27 days when he played for Juventus in 1983.
Clarence Seedorf is the only player to have won the Champions League with three different clubs. He won with Ajax in 1995, Real Madrid in 1998 and AC Milan in 2003.
Seedorf is one of only seven players to have won European trophies with three different clubs.
Paolo Maldini is Milan's most experienced Champions League player with 86 appearances, all for AC Milan.
Five other Milan players - Clarence Seedorf (70), Andrei Shevchenko (66), Alessandro Costacurta (61), Alessandro Nesta (52) and Filippo Inzaghi (50) have broken the half century barrier.
Dida, Maldini, Seedorf and Kaka have played in all 12 of Milan's Champions League matches this season.
None of Milan's players have been on the pitch for every minute of their Champions League campaign.
Player and disciplinary info - Liverpool