Rivals jostle for final glory

By Andrew Haslam

Former Juventus FC team-mates and strike partners Filippo Inzaghi and Alessandro Del Piero come face to face at Old Trafford tonight, knowing that the outcome of their match-up is likely to have a significant bearing on the UEFA Champions League final.

Prolific partnership
The Italian internationals scored a total of 98 goals during four seasons together at the Stadio Delle Alpi, and both have continued to thrive since Inzaghi moved to AC Milan in summer 2001. Inzaghi is the second-highest scorer in this season's Champions League with a total of ten goals, while Del Piero has five strikes to his name.

Inspirational Inzaghi
The statistics do not tell the whole story, however. Milan are much more reliant on Inzaghi, who has contributed ten of their 21 goals in Europe this season, while a total of 13 players have scored for Juventus, who have found the target 30 times in total. However, as the most prolific Italian goalscorer ever in European competition with 45 goals, Inzaghi will be confident of finding the Juventus net in Manchester although Del Piero, with 32 European strikes in total, will pose a significant threat to the Milan defence.

Seedorf seeks new record
All over the pitch and in the technical areas tonight there will be people looking to make history. Milan midfield player Clarence Seedorf could become the first player to win the Champions League with three separate clubs, having previously enjoyed success in 1994/95 with AFC Ajax and 1997/98 with Real Madrid CF. Ironically, in those two finals the defeated sides were Milan and Juventus respectively.

Six for Maldini
Meanwhile Paolo Maldini is set to play in his sixth European Champion Clubs' Cup final, having first appeared in European football's showpiece in 1989. Maldini has lost two of those five games, against Olympique de Marseille in 1993 and Seedorf's Ajax two years later, but claimed winners medals against FC Steaua Bucuresti in 1989, SL Benfica a year later and against FC Barcelona in 1994.

One-club man
Maldini's loyalty to Milan has become something of a rarity in modern football, but he is matched by the player to whom he finds himself in direct opposition in Manchester, Del Piero. The 28-year-old has likewise spent his entire career at one club, and is seeking his second Champions League winners medal, having won one and lost two of his three final appearances to date.

Illustrious names
The match is just as intriguing on the sidelines, as Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti is bidding to become only the fourth person to win the Champion Clubs' Cup as both a player and a coach, following in the footsteps of Miguel Muñoz, Giovanni Trapattoni and Johan Cruyff. Ancelotti, who was coach of Juventus from February 1999 to June 2001, was a key member of the Milan side which triumphed in 1989 and 1990, and could become the first to achieve the feat in the Champions League era.

Formidable foe
He faces a remarkable adversary in the opposing dugout, however, as Marcello Lippi has set a new Champions League record by guiding Juventus to a fourth final. Lippi led the Turin side to three successive finals between 1996 and 1998, seeing his side defeat Ajax before losing to BV Borussia Dortmund and Madrid in the next two season. His Old Trafford appearance surpasses the three final appearances of Fabio Capello and Ottmar Hitzfeld. 

Lucky omen
Milan have asked to wear the white kits they were sporting when they claimed their three most recent Champions Clubs' Cup titles. However, in the first all-Italian final, they could not face more formidable opponents than Juventus, their traditional rivals, in what promises to be an intriguing match.