Benítez was also prepared to break up his winning side after the final with a number of players expected to leave the club to make way for new arrivals. One of those leaving was Vladimír Šmicer, who had scored Liverpool's second goal in Istanbul, and whose contract was known not to be renewed before the final, meaning he entered knowing the final was his last game for the club. Milan were similarly astonished at the manner in which they had lost the final. Manager Carlo Ancelotti said, "We had six minutes of madness in which we threw away the position we had reached until then". The result compounded Milan's failure to win Serie A a week before the match. Milan's vice-president, Adriano Galliani, played down the loss, asserting: "Even if we come second in the league, and second in the Champions League, this is not a disastrous season for us". Captain Paolo Maldini was less optimistic, stating that the reverse was a "huge disappointment", but he added that Milan would accept the defeat and "go out with their heads high".