AC MILAN V LIVERPOOL FC
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Final Istanbul 25 May 2005 AC MILAN – LIVERPOOL FC ATATÜRK OLIMPIYAT STADI, ISTANBUL WEDNESDAY 25 MAY 2005 at 21.45 local time 2004/05 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE THE FINAL AC MILAN v LIVERPOOL FC Welcome to the first final of the UEFA Champions League to be played in Turkey and the 50th final to be played since this competition was born as the ‘European Cup’ in 1955. It involves two clubs of enormous European tradition who have played a combined total of fourteen previous finals in this competition. But, whereas AC Milan have played four previous finals and added two more titles since the Champion Clubs’ Cup evolved into the UEFA Champions League in the 1992/93 season, the European crown has eluded Liverpool FC for the last 21 years since they defeated AS Roma on penalties at another Olympic Stadium - in Rome. This match represents the first European summit between two clubs who have won the title ten times. The two clubs have jointly played over 500 European matches yet have never met in UEFA club competitions. Even though the luck of the draw made AC Milan the ‘home’ team at this final, it remains to be seen whether they display ‘home’ form against their English opponents. Whereas they have never lost to English visitors in Milan, their record outside Italy is not brilliant. The 1-0 at Old Trafford in the first knock-out round was their first victory in England. AC Milan’s only other success outside Milan was the 1-0 win against Leeds United AFC in Salonika in the Cup Winners’ Cup final 32 years ago. The goal by Hernán Crespo at Old Trafford was their first in England since the 1971/72 season. Outside Milan, they have recorded two victories, three draws and seven defeats against English opposition – provided by eight different clubs. But Liverpool FC’s record against Italian teams is not vastly impressive either. Their major successes in Italy have been against AS Roma, whom they beat in Rome en route to the UEFA Cup title in 2001, having previously won the European crown at the Stadio Olimpico – for the last time – with their 1-1 draw in 1984. Six other visits to Italy have two goal-less draws and four defeats in which the Reds have failed to score. Liverpool FC have scored three goals in nine games against Italian opponents away from Anfield and have never scored against any Italian team other than AS Roma. Fifteen games against Italian clubs have produced only 13 goals for the Reds. To summarise, the two clubs have jointly scored only nine goals in 21 away games against opposition from the other country. AC Milan – background statistics Later this year, AC Milan can celebrate the 50th anniversary of their first European match against 1. FC Saarbrucken. The game, which took place at Stadio Comunale di San Siro in Milan on 1 November 1955, attracted around 18,000 fans, who witnessed the German champions record a 4-3 victory thanks to a 69th minute goal from Herbert Martin. The Italians actually led 3-1 after 37 minutes. UEFA Press Information Final Istanbul 25 May 2005 AC MILAN – LIVERPOOL FC The Milan team that day was coached by Uruguayan Héctor Puricelli who fielded: Lorenzo Buffon; Cesare Maldini; Francesco Zagatti; Nils Liedholm (c); Gianfranco Ganzer; Mario Bergamaschi; Amleto Frignani; Giorgio Dal Monte; Albano Vicariotto; Juan Alberto Schiaffino and Valentino Valli. Milan won the return game 4-1 three weeks later thanks to two goals from Valentino Valli and went on to reach the last four where they lost to Real Madrid CF, following an 8-3 aggregate win over SK Rapid Wien in the quarter-finals. Of course, a lot of goals have hit the net since then. AC Milan have been asiduous performers since the UEFA Champions League was introduced in 1992 and their record reads: P 89 W 46 D 23 L 20 F 123 A 70. This record reflects the ‘on-the-pitch’ result of the derby against Inter rather than the administrative 0-3 decreed by UEFA. In Istanbul, AC Milan are playing their 10th Champion Clubs’ Cup final and their 13th in all UEFA competitions. The 1994 and 2003 winners are taking part in their ninth campaign. They have reached the final after winning Group F with a record of P 6 W 4 D 1 L 1 F 10 A 3 and then eliminated Manchester United FC and FC Internazionale in knock-out rounds without conceding a goal. They extended that run with the 2-0 home win against PSV Eindhoven only to concede three in the return leg of the semi-final. In other words, they conceded as many in 90 minutes in Eindhoven as they have done in the other 11 matches played during the current campaign. The victory, however narrow, maintained their tradition in this competition of not having lost a semi-final since the one against Real Madrid CF in 1955/56, when their first continental campaign was ended by a 4-5 aggregate score. No fewer than 18 of AC Milan’s 46 wins have been by the same score-line of 1-0 (they have also lost by that score six times). Twelve of their 23 draws have been goal-less – and that is their second-most-frequent result after 1-0. The tie against PSV Eindhoven was only the third occasion that they have needed the away goals rule in order to progress to a final. AC Milan have an excellent defensive record in UEFA Champions League football with just 70 goals conceded (and 44 clean sheets) in 89 games at one every 117 minutes. AC Milan have kept nine clean sheets in their 12 games this season and have conceded six goals at an average of one every three hours. They have a record of P 66 W 33 D 17 L 16 F 91 A 56 in the group stages compared to P 23 W 13 D 6 L 4 F 32 A 14 in knock-out football. They have kept clean sheets in 49.4% of the UEFA Champions League matches played since 1992. But they have failed to score in 22 of their 89 games (25%). AC Milan are currently in 5th place in the all-time UEFA Champions League ranking. Unless they are beaten in Istanbul, they will go into 4th place ahead of FC Barcelona. AC Milan were one of the 16 clubs who took part in the inaugural Champion Clubs’ Cup in 1955/56 and were also founder members of the UEFA Champions League. Four of their current squad have played in Britain: Hernán Crespo at Chelsea FC; Jaap Stam at Manchester United FC; Jon-Dahl Tomasson at Newcastle United FC; and Gennaro Gattuso in Scotland with Rangers FC. Liverpool FC - background statistics Liverpool FC are in their 32nd season in UEFA club competitions (an English club record), and their 15th in the European Cup / UEFA Champions League (one behind Manchester United FC). Liverpool FC will be playing in their 32nd club final, their 10th in UEFA club competitions and their sixth in the Champion Clubs’ Cup/UEFA Champions League. In their previous finals in this competition, Liverpool won in 1977, 1978, 1981 and 1984 and were runners-up in UEFA Press Information Final Istanbul 25 May 2005 AC MILAN – LIVERPOOL FC 1985. In other UEFA club finals, Liverpool won the UEFA Cup in 1973, 1976 and 2001, and were runners-up in the 1966 Cup Winners’ Cup. Whereas AC Milan were founder-members of the UEFA Champions League, Liverpool FC are in their third season and didn’t appear on the scene until 2001/02. They re-appeared in the next campaign and entered this season after narrowly defeating Grazer AK in the qualifying round last August. In their only other appearance in the knock-out stages of the competition, Liverpool were eliminated by Bayer 04 Leverkusen 4-3 on aggregate in the 2001/02 quarter-final. Like their opponents, Liverpool have conceded just six goals in their 12 UEFA Champions League games this season. They conceded three in group play, two against Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the first knock-out round, and one scored by Fabio Cannavaro in the first leg of the quarter-final against Juventus. The last goal conceded by Liverpool in the competition was after 63 minutes of the quarter- final first leg at home to Juventus with Cannavaro’s goal. Liverpool drew the return leg 0-0 and did not concede a goal in either semi-final match with Chelsea FC. The Liverpool shut-outs in their last three matches have come after only three shut-outs in their previous 12 UEFA Champions League games. In the current campaign, Liverpool have not conceded more than one goal in any match. However Liverpool have scored just one goal in their last three UEFA Champions League games, the winner from Luís García in the semi-final second leg against Chelsea FC – the only goal scored in the last three games involving Liverpool. Liverpool have played a total of 32 UEFA Champions League games, with 14 wins, 12 draws, and six defeats. Liverpool have played 16 home games in the competition with 10 wins, four draws, and two defeats. Both defeats have been at the hands of Spanish clubs – by FC Barcelona (3-1) in November 2001, and Valencia CF (2-0) in October 2002, when the current Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez coached the winning team. Since the defeat by Valencia CF, Liverpool have played six home games with five wins and a draw, scoring 11 goals and conceding three.