Hello my name is dirkb. Yakshemash !

My god. How is it possible that there are infinite sports writers in Germany, and ALL of them are clueless. Both the analysis leading up to and the coverage of the finals are so pathetic I find it infuriating that they are being paid to do this.
On the largest sports website www.sport1.de, for example, I found the following information :
"The finals is also a matchup of the two inspirational team leaders Gerrard and Kaka" ! How interesting. So the leader on Milan is neither Maldini (who had won 2 Champions League titels before adding the third last night), nor Seedorf who just won a record 4th, or maybe Nesta, Pirlo, Gattuso, but instead 25-year-old Kaka. Heh.
Or how about a commentary on Spiegel Online by their best soccer writer Christoph Biermann today suggesting that the Milan midfield of Pirlo, Ambrosini, Seedorf and Gattuso suffered a sudden collective loss of form, which turned the game into a boring affair. Yes, (Liverpool coach) Rafa Benitez sacrificed a second striker just to let both Mascherano and Xabi Alonso tighten up the middle, and OBVIOUSLY when there are two crowded five-player midfields including combat players like Mascherano and Gattuso there's not going to be free-flowing attack soccer. This doesn't mean it's not a good game. The really pitiful part of the statement, however, is that it suggests that Gattuso had a bad game, along with the rest of the Milan midfield. How ridiculous. Few players have ever dominated games more than he dominated this one, it's just not quite as visible when you do it on defense. Poor Harry Kewell. Recover from injury, get brought in when your team is down a goal, then find out your left wing is covered by Gattuso. After losing his first three balls he didn't seem to even want to be on the pitch any more.
Aaaaaaaaanyway, I enjoyed the game. I thought Liverpool did really well to make a game of it, and looked more likely to score until Xabi Alonso made that one small error in fouling Kaka in that position, which is more than many suggested they would be able to do. I thought Benitez' setup was brilliant too, having Gerrard in a deep striking role. Sadly, it just wasn't enough.