Just less than 15 hours until a destiny is met.

A win, and Liverpool join their opponents as the second most successful club in the history of the European Cup.

Had anyone told me this would be possible as Season 03/04 limped to an end, I'd have laughed in disbelief. Who were Liverpool going to employ as manager that summer, David Copperfield? The guy who led us to believe that we actually turned the corner, was actually leading us into a steeple chase.

A sixth European crown would be a remarkable achievement. And despite what Alex Ferguson says, Liverpool have a good chance of success. (ED: i tink he can keep that bottle of wine for his retirement party)

We need to be fully aware that what Milan did to Ferguson's United was not a million miles away from what Portsmouth did to a ragged United a couple of weeks earlier. Milan's 3-0 walkover should not be construed as some kind of children's boogey man – for us, at least. (For United fans, it was just that...)

While a fresh Milan were more than capable of beating any team United could put out, given it was at the San Siro and that they began so brightly against an extremely tired opposition, United's starting eleven also lacked the two centre-backs who have given them a good defence platform all season. Rio Ferdinand was injured, and only the ghost of Nemanja Vidic played. Gary Neville, never a fave around these parts, will at least get the begrudging acknowledgement of being solid and reliable, and Patrice Evra, who has had a good season on the whole, was also absent.

Yes, Milan also ran riot against Liverpool in Istanbul, before half-time intervened. But it has to be noted that the Reds' defence is far better drilled as a unit than 2005, and also has a more reliable shielding presence in midfield.

Djimi Traoré had an absolute nightmare in the first half two years ago, although later redeemed himself somewhat with a great goal-line clearance.

But he was a player who, on the night, like a lot of other Reds, clearly suffered from first-half stage fright. It was the biggest game in the lives of that starting XI, whereas Milan had been there, done that. Now Liverpool have been there and done that, too.

This year's Milan are a great side going forward, but for me they do not compare with Barcelona in terms of attacking talent.

The Italians look a better balanced side, with more solidity as a unit, but they don't have a front four to compare with the frightening quartet of Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Messi and Deco, whose touch and movement is totally something else outta this universe. Also, Milan's current strikers are nowhere near as intimidating as Crespo and Shevchenko were in 2005, but of course, in Kaká they have a real gem who has improved even more since then.(or so Pele says)

I fully respect Milan, and make them favourites based on their experience. But I don't see any reason to fear them. If Liverpool can win in a partisan Nou Camp after being a goal down to a Barcelona team who were, at that moment in the game, purring like the 1970 Brazilians, then the Reds can win in a neutral setting, with a passionate support willing them on, against a team they psychologically scarred two years ago.

Make no mistake: Liverpool fully deserve their place in the final. At no point in the entire campaign have the Reds been in danger of elimination, ever since dominating Group C.

A narrow defeat at Stamford Bridge(Hey! Joe Cole is our boogey man and he's playing that nite...) was the only significant deficit all season (bar a few minutes in the Nou Camp, and just four minutes early in the qualifier against Maccabi Haifa), and it took just 22 minutes of the semi-final second leg to even it up against Mourinho's men. Even the penalty shoot-out was trouble-free, with the Reds in control from the first kick.

What has pleased me the most about our defending in Europe has been the lack of panic – of feeling a goal could be conceded at any moment – bar those first 20-30 minutes in Barcelona, and a couple of times when Pepe Reina needed to save at Stamford Bridge. The entire season has been relatively stress-free, particularly at crucial points in the games.

Neither Chelsea nor Barcelona worried the Reds' defence at Anfield; the weird thing was how little Barcelona created on the whole, and especially in the last 10 minutes, when a second goal would have taken them through. And even weirder was how Chelsea, needing just one away goal to force the Reds into scoring three, failed to make Liverpool's defence even remotely twitchy.(remember how twitchy United was)

As a fan, I still panic to a degree. Perhaps I'll never lose those twitching sensations, from all those years of Phil Babb tackling goalposts with his coccyx and an overweight Neil Ruddock floundering like a beached whale; not to mention David James, before he became the mature goalkeeper of today, rashly flying out of his goal only to flap at the crosses.

While I don't particularly care who wins the final for the Reds so long as someone does, the romantic in me can't help but hope it's someone for whom there's an extra-special story, and, to lessen the sense of déjà vu, someone different to two years ago regarding the players who remain at the club.

One of the things that gave me most joy in Istanbul was Vladimir Smicer's unexpected contribution as a sub: stunning goal, and coolly taken penalty. (I also loved the thought of him smoking a celebratory cigar in Taksim Square at 3am.) The Czech, while a popular figure, never found his best form at Liverpool, but six years of injury-induced inconsistency were forgotten that night, and now we all remember him particularly fondly.

I can't help but want to see Robbie Fowler play some kind of telling role, even if only as a late sub; just as he was so close to doing against Chelsea, as the designated fifth penalty taker. (Ironic that he was a minute from taking a penalty in his Anfield farewell game, too.)

Having been in Istanbul as a fan, his passion for the club is special. And he remains a 'big game' player: someone who never freezes in the limelight. He scored crucial goals in two of the three finals of 2001, despite only starting one of those games, as well as a penalty in the League Cup final shoot-out. He also scored in the semi-finals.

Then there's Peter Crouch, a man who has spent far too much of his career being mocked, but for whom a Champions League winners' medal would be the latest positive achievement in a hard-earned battle to be taken seriously.

Or Harry Kewell. He was sensational in the World Cup game against Croatia last summer, almost single-handedly dragging Australia through to the knockout stage, but has had wretched luck with injuries since joining Liverpool. No player wants to limp out of a cup final, but he's done so in three for the Reds, having worked hard at his fitness in the build-ups to those games.

He's got fit again now, and, given the circumstances, looked incredibly sharp against Charlton. It might be too soon to start the final, but he remains a special player who can excel in every attacking aspect of the game: passing, going past people, crossing, scoring, creating, and is also very strong in the air. A fit and confident Harry Kewell is such a great asset for the club, and someone Milan would justifiably fear.

One of the interesting things to monitor will be Milan's psychological fall-out from 2005. Just as United remain a lucky semi-final opponent for Milan, dating back to the 1950s, then Liverpool have clearly made themselves unlucky final opposition for the Milanese.

I don't believe too much in records stating "team X hasn't beaten team Y in 30 years" because ultimately it's different personnel involved.

But the mental blocks of recent history can be true enough. These blocks are never enough to predetermine a result, but they can have a bearing on how the teams perform. Chelsea now know that, in a cup semi-final, their chances of eliminating Liverpool are unusually slim, and it seemed that they lacked some belief once Daniel Agger scored in the latest clash.

It's like Manchester United and late goals. Teams believe they actually specialise in them, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy as the clock winds down. Both this season and last Liverpool have lost to stoppage-time goals against United. In a similar way, firmly etched into Milanese minds is that Liverpool specialise in comebacks. Especially if they watched last season's FA Cup final.

Unlike Liverpool, Milan are no strangers to losing European Cup finals. Another defeat would make it five; at present, the sombre game at Heysel is Liverpool's only taste of defeat. And of all the teams who've won the trophy more than twice, Liverpool have by far the best success ratio: five out of six finals won to date. Ajax, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, like Milan, all have a high number of defeats as well as successes.

So in that sense the Reds are still pretty unique. Indeed, Liverpool aren't a team who tend to lose many finals, full-stop. The defeat in the League Cup against Chelsea in 2005 is the only reversal in the last seven 'proper' cup finals.

It's like the Reds' penalty record: ten wins in eleven shoot-outs. Any England or Germany fan will know how previous encounters can linger in the mind, for good and bad, and influence current proceedings.

History won't automatically help Liverpool, of course. But we can still hope and believe that it will act as the kind of sixth sense we crave the most.