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In the Champions League Final Two years ago, Liverpool came back from being 0-3 down at half-time to equalise and then beat AC Milan on penalties. Wednesday saw a chance for Milan to get their revenge in a repeat of the 2005 edition.

As is so often the case with finals – perhaps because of nerves, or the pressure to win, or fear of losing – this was not a particularly exciting affair. Liverpool had the better of the first half but went in for the half-time oranges 0-1 down to a freak goal; on the stroke of half-time, Andrea Pirlo took a free kick that deflected off the chest of eventual Man-of-the-Match Filippo Inzaghi and past the wrong-footed Reds ‘keeper Pepe Reina.  

The second half was more even, but Liverpool’s hopes of turning the game around were shattered on 82 minutes when Kaká (who else?) put a perfect pass through to Inzaghi, who coolly finished. Dirk Kuyt cut the deficit with a close-range header a minute from time, but it was too little, too late for Liverpool and they left Athens empty-handed, while Milan picked up their 7th European Cup.

The presentation of the cup to Milan’s veteran captain Paolo Maldini – still playing at 38 and lifting this particular trophy for an astonishing 5th time – saw an unusual and welcome bit of sportsmanship from Milan, whose players formed a tunnel and applauded the Liverpool players as they trudged up to get their losers’ medals, the sound of the Reds’ anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ ringing in their ears. It was sung by thousands of dejected but proud Liverpool fans – the lucky ones who could get into the stadium.

UEFA were criticised before and after the game for its method of allocating tickets to the two clubs, who got only 17,000 each for the 64,000-capacity stadium. Of that allocation, thousands of tickets went to the corporate sponsors of the two clubs, which meant that the true fans got even fewer.

This did not deter supporters without tickets, especially those of Liverpool, from travelling to Athens simply to be close to the action, or in the hope of buying a black-market ticket. These were changing hands for hundreds of euros, and in some cases the money was spent on forgeries.

At the game, those fans with forged tickets were turned away, but as kick-off time approached, and pressure increased at the turnstiles, some fans (once again, especially Liverpool’s) were able to force their way into the stadium, whether they had a forged ticket or no ticket at all. This meant that once the stadium was full, fans who had genuine tickets and who arrived a little later were turned away, causing disturbances at the gates as they clashed with the police.

Elsewhere in Athens, other supporters had the chance to see the game on giant screens, but with the police presence concentrated in the stadium, there was also trouble between rival fans. But we have to spare a thought for 150 unlucky Liverpool fans who were left back in England after their charter flight was grounded for technical reasons.

Back to the football, Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez was magnanimous in defeat: “We lost against a good team with top-class players,” he said. His opposite number, Carlo Ancelotti, who has won the Cup twice as a player and now twice as a coach, was understandably delighted: “It's an extraordinary achievement - the greatest victory we've had.”

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