Wednesday, 23rd May 2007 at 7:13 pm

Maldini’s last stand?

He hasn’t said anything, but there are growing whispers that at the age of 62 (or thereabouts), Wednesday night might be Paolo Maldini’s footballing swansong. After 104 Champions League appearances, five titles (and possibly six), eight final appearances, and a career is all but peerless, the Italian icon might, on the back of a Milanese triumph in Athens on Wednesday night, finally call it a day. All he needs, then, is to knock over Liverpool…

There hasn’t been a revenge match quite like this in years, in any sport. Two years ago, Steven Gerrard orchestrated football’s greatest comeback, an extraordinary second half culminating in a second half that broke Italian hearts, and had Liverpudlians dancing in the streets for days (quite literally).

Since then, the banter back and forth has been lively, Gerrard’s labelling of Italian pit bull Gennaro Gattuso “a kitten” in his autobiography, probably fuelled by the healthy assumption that they wouldn’t be seeing Milan in the next few seasons, if ever. Enter fate, stage left…

The Italians, led by Gatusso, Clarence Seedorf and the wizardry of Kaka, will be as fired up as they’ve ever been, absolutely determined to avenge the nightmare of Istanbul. And on the back of their dismantling of United in the semifinal, the bookies have them marginal favourites. But the unorthodox approach of Rafael Benitez, the match-winning potential of Gerrard, and the memories of 2005, will combine for an inspired Liverpool team full of self-belief.

Sentiment would deliver Maldini a farewell flourish in Athens on Wednesday night, should this indeed turn out to be the Italian’s swansong; sport has a healthy contempt for sentiment, though, and Liverpool won’t be remotely interested in a fitting farewell for Milan’s talisman. Don’t expect Istanbul - but we’re in for a hell of a game nonetheless.