Head-to-head

Since the two UEFA Champions League finalists are so familiar with each other, the key to the game could come down to individual showdowns between some of the players on supreme form in this season's tournament.

Midfield key
It is often said games - especially as tight as this - are won and lost in midfield. There will be no quarter given in the centre of the field, and Alessio Tacchinardi and Gennaro Gattuso are seldom in generous mood.

Ancelotti influence
Ironically, it was the man whose side he will face in Manchester - Carlo Ancelotti - who gave Tacchinardi his break after arriving as Juventus FC coach in 1999. Meanwhile, uncompromising Gattuso, nicknamed 'Rino', moved to AC Milan that year and, not least since Ancelotti's switch to the San Siro, has proved a vital component in their team.

Ball-winning role
This season, both have excelled. In a midfield not short of talent, Ancelotti has regularly turned to Gattuso as ball-winner, his performance against Internazionale FC typical of the season he has had. Tacchinardi has filled a similar role for Juventus, while also scoring two spectacular goals against FC Basel.

World-class talent
With defences as good as these teams - bolstered in midfield by the above pair - a low-scoring affair could be expected. But then those centre-backs will have to deal with world-class talent in each attack in Andriy Shevchenko and Alessandro Del Piero. 
 
Cool finish
Shevchenko's cool finish for his 23rd tournament goal was the strike that took Milan into the final. However, waiting for him at Old Trafford will be a 36-year-old with the experience to match his exploits - Ciro Ferrara. Winner of the UEFA Cup and two titles with SSC Napoli, and the Champions League and five league titles since his 1994 switch to Juventus, whatever there is to see, Ferrara has seen it before.

Important performance
While Shevchenko may have scored the only goal to beat Real Madrid CF in November, Ferrara's performance was important in ending the champions' defence of the trophy at the semi-final stage, and having seen off Raúl González and Ronaldo, to add to a long collection of attacking scalps, he will fear no one.

Team-mates turned opponents
At the other end, they may be long-standing Italian international team-mates, but at Old Trafford there will be few deadlier foes than the two Alessandros - Nesta and Del Piero.

Attacking spearhead
Del Piero has been Juve's attacking spearhead this season, and with Pavel Nedved suspended, his presence and inspiration will be even more crucial. However, Nesta has been an undoubted success since his summer switch to Milan from S.S. Lazio, his side having kept seven Champions League clean sheets this season.

Individual duel
Nesta will have his worked cut out to deny Del Piero, scorer of five goals as Juventus bid to repeat their 1996 triumph. But that individual duel between two of the competition's stars will go a long way to deciding who will take the trophy back to Italy.