SOCCER/AC Milan v Liverpool:There will be a mighty clash in Athens tonight, involving two teams of such midfield power that they risk grinding the Champions League final into a mound of costly dust.

Liverpool are bent on pitting equal forces against Milan's supple unit by placing five men in that area. Steven Gerrard would be at work there, while trying to get up in support of the lone striker, Dirk Kuyt. That is the approach Liverpool have been practising, although Rafael Benitez could be compelled to rethink it if Boudewijn Zenden is unfit to play on the left.

The manager feels the Dutchman has recovered from an ankle knock. Should that confidence be misplaced, a new plan might have to be drafted unless Harry Kewell is stationed on that wing despite having had no more than 46 minutes in the first team this season. "Kewell is ready to play, even the whole game," Benitez argued.

The manager took a positive view of Zenden's prospects, despite the injury that has even been treated with acupuncture since the damage was done in a training camp at La Manga last week. Zenden said: "I did all the physical work in Spain before getting this injury. It feels a lot better and I feel sure I will be all right to play."

To the neutral the broader tone of the deliberations is ominous. As happened when Chelsea and Manchester United marred this year's FA Cup final, two gifted teams may nullify one another and create a void where an enthralling contest should be. Neither Liverpool nor even Milan will be agonising about artistic obligations when there is such a prize at stake.

Liverpool will never improve on the spectacle they laid on in Istanbul two years ago but they will need to be a better team tonight than they were over the course of that madcap final. Though Milan did not take the opposition for granted in 2005, the craving to atone for a galling defeat should hone their footballers.

The Premiership team have already paid to some extent for snatching that trophy on penalties, after the recovery from a 3-0 deficit. They slapped a price on their own head, as they must have realised when Benfica brought Liverpool's defence of the title to an ugly halt in March 2006 by winning at Estadio da Luz and Anfield.

At least that experience proved instructive and Liverpool, in this tournament, are more mature these days. The elimination of Barcelona in the last 16 demonstrated that as Benitez's side won 2-1 in Camp Nou and deserved far better than a 1-0 defeat at Anfield.

Tonight both clubs have to treat the Champions League final as a glamorous staging post. Within half an hour of the triumph in Istanbul Benitez was speaking about the work to be done before Liverpool could compete for the Premiership. He is talking in the same manner now, hoping the new owners will bankroll the upgrade. While Milan are seldom short of funds, they, too, have thoughts of regrouping.

Liverpool's players will stride out into the muggy heat of the Olympic stadium with one final rallying cry from their captain ringing in their ears. "We do not want to leave Athens upset and with regrets that we have not brought the European Cup home," said Gerrard. "We want to make history, be heroes and come home as winners."

This team may have enjoyed consistent successes in cup competitions in recent years but the hunger remains.

"To win one final was absolutely magnificent but to do it twice would be really special," said Gerrard. "But I do not feel fulfilled as a footballer yet. Not at all. I am 27, I have had a decent career so far as medals are concerned but I have still got a lot of ambitions and dreams to fulfil. Winning the Premiership, perhaps. And I want to experience another Istanbul . . . If we win this game, I won't be happy. I want more European Cup medals and more FA Cups. Everything I win just makes me hungrier to keep going."

Gerrard saw Mohamed Sissoko hobble away from training last night, the Mali international struggling to overcome a hamstring injury, but insisted this Liverpool side is far stronger than the team that recovered from 3-0 down at half-time in Istanbul to rally and recover to take the game to penalties. "We're a better team this time around. In 2005, everything was new for me and it took its toll . . . I know I wasted a lot of energy with nerves before that game and I won't be making the same mistakes again.

Liverpool will hope to capitalise on the Italians' desire for revenge. "Milan will feel they have something to prove after the way they caved in in the second half, and we'll be ready for that. They've looked a good team all the way through the competition and did well to get past Manchester United as well as they did because they've had a great season. But it's going to be different this time around. Hopefully, we'll be ready from the whistle this time and not left facing a mountain to climb like before."