What an absolutely marvellous and cracking post. Welcome to RAWK. Your warm compliments are very well appreciated. It is an awesome prospect to be playing quite possibly the greatest club side in Europe, except of course our own mighty Liverpool that is. 
Your description of the passion of the Ultras is spot on. I have heard the singing and seen the vibrant support of the Milanese supporters and they truly are second to none. I was thinking how amazing it will be to have two of the greatest sets of support, especially vocal support battle it out against each other. It really does look like it will be a spectacle both on the pitch, and off it.
I'm hoping for a spectacle ... or rather really expecting one. Milan and Liverpool Tifosi in one big game should result in a big atmosphere. It's a simple equation really.
Even if others dont agree with the word spectacle, the sheer tension, passion and chess match nature of such games are a spectacle in their own right. What concerns me is that the last time we played in a major European final, all the rule books and defensive codes were thrown out of the window and we ended up winning the match 5-4 in extra time. Now somehow i do not think that will happen next week.
If you ask me ... I think we will have more than a goal this final. It won't be a 1-0 or a penaty shoot-out win etc. Most of the papers think that a boring final is on the cards. I personally don't feel like that even though the history of ECC/UCL finals suggests that a 1 goal game is highly probable.
What is mouthwatering is the individual little battles all over the pitch, and then the greater battle of both teams. It is unbelievably exciting and for us as Liverpool fans well we've had such a long wait that just being in the final seems almost like winning it. But we still have something in us - that something to go the final distance, over the last hurdle, across the finish line. Who knows what the final outcome will be but i am sure that football will be the real winner.
I think so ... a cracker on the cards. That's what I feel.
Haroon, I am sure that we will have your good company on these boards in the next few days. Maybe you can post your views on the individual battles. And what about the battle between Rafael Benitez and Carlo Ancelloti. Tell me something, if we gave you the opportunity would you consider a swap between the two managers? What about any of the players? Would you want to swap anyone on the pitch? It is easier to say that you would love to have Stevie G but it requires a bit more thought to say that you would consider a swap for Kaka.
I am really busy nowadays .... right through this month so I won't be able to post that much but I will try my best to post more in the lead-up to the final.
Honestly speaking ... I would not want to swap any player for our team right now. A valid addition would be Gilardino up front but that is for the Summer ... NOT NOW.
It is the most balanced team in the world and can attack, defend and keep the ball. If I was told to pick players from your team I would pick Gerrard and Alonso. Both are different types. Alonso is cool and calm on the ball like Pirlo and thinks through his pass. Gerrard is the more electrifying player like Kaka who can make the hair raise. If Kaka can shoot like Gerrard and Gerrard can dribble like Kaka then we are looking at a bomb of a player!
For the managers I wouldn't swap Ancelotti. Carlo has done really well for us. He has won all there is to win barring the Inter-Continental Cup in a mere two seasons. We have broken all types of Serie A records in our Scudetto campaign last season and also broken European records. We won on German soil after 44 years when we beat Bayern. We did the double over them, over Juve, over Inter, Dortmund, defeated Real at home, double over Lokomotiv, defeated Barcelona, double over Utd etc.
Carlo has defeated Hitzfeld, Del Bosque, Cuper, Mancini, Rijkaard, Sammer, Lippi, Capello, Ferguson and even Mourinho in the Super Cup. Not many managers can boast to beat the top managers in the game in such a short span of time! He is fantastic. Rafa too has beaten some top managers but his list is not as extensive as Carlo's for now. I'm hoping Rafa's name is added to the list of victims on Wednesday night.
I dont think anyone would swap Stevie G or Xabi Alonso for any of the Milan midfield. Not that its meant to be disrespectful or anything, but thats how much we love these two and believe in them.
By the way, apologies for the description of Maldini as a has-been earlier in the thread. Paolo Maldini is a legend. He is Milan. He has been with you through thick and thin. Players like that nowadays are few and far between and should be commended. By the way we have our own 'maldini' - Carragher is his name.
It's the same for you guys to prefer Gerrard and Alonso over Kaka and Pirlo as it is for us. Different strokes for different folks. Not many English players have adapted well to the Serie A in the past. I think Gerrard has the all-around abilities to play anywhere in any league in the world.
I will say one thing though ... believe it or not ... the atmosphere and surroundings in Milan the club and Milanello (training complex) are so good and tranquil that a player is groomed entirely. It would be like a kid going to Eton and then Cambridge instead of a nice private school and Russell Group University. There are many past examples and present ones of players maturing even more and developing all aspects when they join Milan.
Maldini is a legend for us. He is a model player and I would just like to clarify that most of the stuff that the media is saying is to just hype up the game. Maldini is NEVER disrespectful to any opponent. Never. He has not termed Liverpool a dull and boring defensive side. This is just the media spicing. Maldini said that Liverpool is a highly organised side and Milan have problems against side that are well organised. He's a fair man. After all he has played the game for 20 years now which is massive.
One more thing I read in some thread but can't find it now for some reason was that Milan had trouble selling the total allocation of tickets.
I would just like to point out that it is not easy. When Milan reached the European CUP Final in 1989 ... it was exactly 20 years since the last final in 1969. At that time 90,000 Milanisti made the trip to Barcelona's Camp Nou which is a record for travelling fans to this day in a European game. 90,000 is the number! Our side has reached 7 finals in a very short space of time. For Liverpool it is different. You guys have reached a final after 2 decades so the passion and excitement is much more and of a different kind.
For us this the 7th final in a very short space of time. Milan's fans have the most airmiles in Europe due to so many campaigns that have gone down to the wire. A final win or lose is always an expensive ticket and trip. Now going to Istanbul is not that easy when only two seasons ago people paid excessive prices to come to Manchester and the £ here is expensive compared to other currencies etc.
Hence that thing has to be considered. When we were in a 20 year gap situation 90,000 fans made the trip and the Camp Nou had 90,000 Milan fans in it! It is a lot different now but still 20,000 tifosi will be present and they will be loud ... you'll see yourselves.
