Milan determined to lay the ghosts of 2005 defeat

ROME, May 18 (Reuters) Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti has denied his team's dramatic defeat to Liverpool in the 2005 Champions League final have any effect when the clubs meet again in the final of this year's competition in Athens.

''What happened back then won't weigh on us at all. It's a completely different match,'' he said.

As his players look forward to next Wednesday's showdown in the Greek capital, however, their minds will inevitably turn back to the events at Istanbul's Ataturk stadium, when they let slip a 3-0 halftime lead before losing on penalties.

The memories are still raw among many of the current Milan squad.

Of the 11 that started in Istanbul, seven are likely to start again against Liverpool next week and all will be eager to close the wound opened by that defeat.

''It still hurts, but I'm sure Liverpool know that they will never win a match like that again,'' said captain Paolo Maldini, who is aiming to win the his fifth European crown with the club.

''Now we've got a chance to write another great page in our history.'' Cafu described losing to Liverpool as ''like taking a shower in cold water, or as if a piano had fallen on to your head''.

The 2005 final is only one of the forces behind Milan's drive to the final, however.

A second, even stronger motivation is the team's desire to provide a final, triumphant twist to a season that risked foundering before it had even begun.

Last July, Milan's ambitions laid in tatters. Found guilty by a sports tribunal of attempting to rig Serie A matches, the club had 44 points slashed off their total for the 2005-06 season, dropping them them out of the European places.

The club appealed, and the penalty points were reduced to 30 - enough to lift them up to fourth and into Champions League qualifying competition, provided UEFA admitted them.

UEFA opened the door grudgingly, saying it lacked the legal grounds to exclude Milan, but warned it would intervene if they were involved in match-rigging in future.

MILAN ALIVE Milan's workmanlike progress through the group phase and their laboured extra-time victory over Celtic in the first knockout round failed to win them any friends and elimination seemed a real possibility after the 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich in the first leg of their quarter-final.

At the return leg in Munich, however, Ancelotti's side jerked into life. While Bayern's attack crashed uselessly against Milan's defence, Clarence Seedorf and Filippo Inzaghi grabbed a goal each to beat the German side 2-0 - their first defeat in European competition at the Allianz Arena.

The semifinal win over Manchester United, sealed by the sparkling 3-0 masterclass at the San Siro - a performance Ancelotti described as the best since he took charge of the team in November 2001 -- coincided with his team's rise into the top four in Serie A.

Whatever happens in Athens, the club has already ensured its return to the top of European football.

In Italy, many people have questioned Milan's right to compete in the Champions League in the first place.

The players have responded by presenting themselves as the innocent victims of the match-fixing scandal - penalised for crimes they did not commit.

Even the mild-mannered Kaka joined in the protest last week, when he appealed to opposition fans to stop the sniping.

''We have been constantly under fire this year. Now that we have achieved all our objectives it is about time people started praising us,'' he said.

Seedorf, who has spoken out several times in Milan's defence, said he and his teammates were confident of laying the ghost of 2005 to rest.

''It has not been an easy year, but we knew we could do great things. It's our duty now to go and win the Cup to close out the season in style. We have shown we've still got a great hunger to win,'' he said.

''Even if we played the 2005 final another 20 times, we would win it. And this time, you can be sure, it won't go to penalties''.

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