Milan were regarded as favourites and their team included many players who had experienced success in the competition. The most notable was captain Paolo Maldini, who had won the competition four times previously, all with Milan, and Clarence Seedorf who had won the competition three times with three clubs. Liverpool had been considered underdogs throughout the competition, but had beaten more favoured opposition, including Juventus and Chelsea, to reach the final. Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez acknowledged this: "Maybe Milan are favourites, but we have confidence, and we can win". Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger felt Liverpool would win the match: "I fancy Liverpool as Milan look jaded physically and certainly mentally, by losing the A title, I think they have never had a better chance than now to beat Milan." Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher was not so optimistic, stating that the Liverpool side were not as good as the one that had won the 2001 UEFA Cup Final: "No disrespect to the squad we have got now but it is obvious we are not as strong as we were when we won the UEFA Cup in 2001. Back then we had a settled team and that season when we went into games against Barcelona and Roma, we always felt we were as good as them."