But the first thing to acknowledge in advance of Wednesday's rematch with Milan in Athens is that for all the hype of those broadcasting organisations fortunate enough to be rights holders, the football world can hardly expect anything remotely as dramatic this time. The best we are legitimately entitled to hope for is that the evident quality on both sides survives the suffocating surface tension of a major final; and that Liverpool can make more of a game of it than the new English champions, Manchester United, managed in the San Siro earlier this month.
Most of England - little blue pockets of Merseyside and the red ones of Manchester excepted - would happily settle for a repeat of United's home leg with Milan, in which the Italian side were deservedly ahead at half-time, and should have extended their lead, only to be somehow beaten before the end of the night by a classic British mix of perspiration and inspiration. Shades of Istanbul. When United went to Milan with a weakened defence, however, the home team produced what their superb attacking midfielder Kaka describes as "the perfect game", and this time there was no way back from a 3-0 deficit.
Alarmingly for Liverpool, Kaka believes achieving perfection may be possible twice in the same month, even against what Milan consider to be very different opposition: "I believe we can play like that many other times. Manchester is a team that plays more, they have a better quality of passing, whereas Liverpool is different. It has the typical characteristics of English football. It is a very well trained team and a very tactical team."
If there is an element of damning with faint praise there, Milan will at least be well aware that those characteristics include a stubborn refusal to submit when three goals behind. What a pity that the television cameras had to remain the wrong side of the Liverpool dressing room at half-time in Istanbul. Instead, we have to build up a picture from the testimony of those inside.
Steven Gerrard, local lad already torn apart by Chelsea's desire to take him to West London: "I couldn't concentrate. I had my head in my hands. I thought it was over."
Carragher: "I've seen a picture of me and Stevie behind each other when the third goal went in, and you can see in our faces total dejection. People always ask what happened at half-time and want to hear you say we were all like lunatics, saying, 'We're going to win'. But I was more fearing it was going to be five or six the way they were playing."
It was certainly the time for a manager to earn his corn. Rafa Benitez, walking through a storm of doubt, held his head up high and concentrated on thinking straight: "First I wanted to change the system, then I had to give confidence to the players. The supporters can give the players emotion, but you have to give them solutions. I told them to get one goal and I thought the other team would be afraid."
The necessary changes were effectively forced on him, and this week he must get them right first time. Above all, Kaka cannot be allowed the room he exploited to such brilliant effect in the first 45 minutes. Still something of a tiro then, he allowed the belatedly introduced Dietmar Hamann to subdue him a little in the second half, though only after winning the free-kick from which Andriy Shevchenko all but made the score 4-0.
With the subsequent transfers of Shevchenko and his partner Hernan Crespo, as well as Milan Baros, Djibril Cissé and Vladmir Smicer, attack is the one area in which both teams have changed completely. Kaka now plays as a support striker just behind Filippo Inzaghi or Alberto Gilardino, even more likely to break into the penalty area and employ his deadly finishing, as he did three times over the two legs against United.
"I think he's the best player in the world," Carragher admits. "You remember his performance in the first half in Istanbul and after that we all felt he was definitely the man, with Ronaldinho, and this season he's probably gone on to eclipse him. We'll sort out tactics when we get there, whether it's a midfielder's job or a defender's [to mark him]." They will need to, and Javier Mascherano is the most obvious choice for the job, rather than risking Carragher being pulled out of position and leaving the inexperienced Daniel Agger one on one with Inzaghi.
Nor can Liverpool afford to concentrate on Kaka to the exclusion of the Dutchman Clarence Seedorf, who was just as effective in the United games. With Kaka moved forward, Massimo Ambrosini has been brought into the midfield and Seedorf has greater licence to attack. Behind them are a familiar and beautifully complementary pair in the spiky Gennaro Gattuso and the elegant Andrea Pirlo. As Benitez needs Mascherano, Xabi Alonso and Gerrard in his midfield, the Liverpool captain will almost certainly have to influence the play from out on the right.
Benitez used a different strategy for each of the two semi-finals against Chelsea, neither conspicuously successful. At Stamford Bridge, Craig Bellamy was so ineffective alongside Dirk Kuyt that the game was crying out for Peter Crouch long before he was sent on. But Crouch's inclusion at Anfield demanded the inclusion of Jermaine Pennant to supply some crosses, and the winger did not justify his place either, certainly not with Alonso left out. So Boudewijn Zenden, surprisingly picked for both games, could retain his place on the left, offering the benefit of John Arne Riise at left-back. Remarkably, Kewell, who was booed by his own supporters in Istanbul, is suddenly back in contention, as a substitute at least.
Milan are confident that Paolo Maldini's troublesome 38-year-old knee will allow him to start a sixth European Cup final, probably in the centre rather than at full-back, where Massimo Oddo and the Czech Marek Jankulovski are the babies of the defence at a mere 30 and 29 respectively. "They have more balance," said Benitez, reflecting on the changes from two years ago. "They have good, experienced defenders, they are really strong in midfield, and they play with one striker and one player just between the lines. That is more difficult for defenders sometimes. It is dangerous to talk about just Kaka. The rest of the team is really good too. You need to think about their weaknesses as well as their strengths."
Good luck with finding those, Rafa. Perhaps there is a little secret hidden in the scribbled notes that inspired his half-time talk in Istanbul, which he has kept "not as a souvenir but because I will be using them again, for sure".
His notes on the season as a whole, when they come to be written, may be flavoured by the result on Wednesday, though, as ever, Benitez will look at the big picture. It will show no progress at all in the Premiership, with 14 points fewer than last season, clinging on to third place on goal difference ahead of Arsenal, who won comfortably at Anfield in both domestic cups; on the other hand, a bad start in the League - Liverpool were 10th in mid-November - encouraged them to prioritise Europe. Milan, handicapped by an eight-point deduction in Serie A, did the same, and both sides were able to take advantage of that against the more ambitious United and Chelsea.
Benitez accepts that there is much catching up to do on that pair, but in the meantime can envisage a magnificent consolation prize on Wednesday: "If we win, people might still be talking about it in a hundred years."
Milanese Magician: Anatomy of Kaka, the Brazilian who can rule Athens if the Gods smile on him
Brain
Kaka, 25, the product of a middle-class upbringing and education, is a thinker about the game, impress-ing older colleagues with his tactical sense.
Physique
Slight as a teenager, Kaka has worked hard to put on weight and muscle, and now rides tackles much more comfortably.
Spine
After cracking his spine in a swimming pool seven years ago Kaka made sure of a full recovery, using the time to plan every step of his future career.
Legs
Whether playing as an attacking midfielder or just behind the main striker, Kaka is quick enough to accelerate through the opposing back-four.
Right foot
Although he is no slouch with his left foot, it is Kaka's right that tends to produce his most penetrating passes and thrilling finishes.
Liverpool's finals: The splendour that was Rome
1977: Liverpool 3 Borussia Mönchengladbach 1
Kevin Keegan played his last game for the club in Rome and Tommy Smith, playing his 600th, headed their second goal before a Phil Neal penalty sealed victory, making Liverpool only the second English club to lift the cup.
1978: Liverpool 1 Bruges 0
Keegan's replacement, Kenny Dalglish, scored a classic poacher's goal in a lacklustre match at Wembley as Liverpool became the sixth club to retain the trophy.
1981: Liverpool 1 Real Madrid 0
Alan Kennedy's goal crowned a majestic team performance in Paris against a star-studded Real side who included the late Laurie Cunningham and two future Real managers in Vicente Del Bosque and Jose Camacho.
1984: Liverpool 1 Roma 1 (Liverpool won 4-2 on penalties)
Facing Roma in their own stadium did not faze the Reds, who had won the League and League Cup that year. Bruce Grobbelaar became an Anfield legend with his wobbly-knees antics in the penalty shoot-out.
1985: Juventus 1 Liverpool 0
The deaths of 39 fans at Heysel in Brussels when a wall collapsed made the result irrelevant; the teams did not want to play, but Uefa officials feared further crowd trouble. Michel Platini's penalty was followed by a five-year ban for English teams in Europe.
Liverpool 3 Milan 3 (Liverpool won 3-2 on penalties)
The comeback from 3-0 down at half-time in Istanbul with three goals in six minutes made this the most dramatic European Cup final ever. In the penalty shoot-out Jerzy Dudek reprised Grobbelaar's offputting tactics to emerge a hero.
THE RIVAL MANAGERS
Carlo Ancelotti
Man-management: any coach who survives more than five years at a big Italian club must have the support of his players.
Tactics: originally criticised for his defensive approach, Ancelotti has adapted to make his team one of Italy's most flamboyant.
Transfers: Ricardo Oliveira has failed to replace Andriy Shev-chenko convincingly, but the £5m spent on Ronaldo (cup-tied for the final) looks shrewd business.
Strengths: wealth of European experience as player and coach.
Weaknesses: has delivered just one Scudetto and European Cup in six years. "Nearly man" tag has followed him from Juventus.
Rafa Benitez
Man-management: has support of team, but relationship with players is by no means close.
Tactics: hard to find better or more knowledgeable tactician. Masterminded final turnaround in 2005 with inspired substitutions.
Transfers: Javier Mascherano has fitted seamlessly into midfield, Dirk Kuyt and Daniel Agger look classy acquisitions, but in other areas Benitez has been accused of buying in quantity, not quality.
Strengths: excellent record in both European and domestic cups.
Weaknesses: no closer to winning League title than he was when replacing Gérard Houllier in 2004.