But there are genuine excuses to be made for both. Before the semi-finals, plenty of people were pointing out that the fixture pile-up of the last few weeks would catch up with Manchester United and Chelsea and that was a factor in both ties. That's the price of success, particularly in English football with the amount of cup games, and the effects of fatigue could be seen in the players.

But they also made their own mistakes. Taking Manchester United first, they just didn't perform on Wednesday.

Granted, Milan had some very accomplished players in the likes of Reno Gatusso and Alessandro Nesta and one sublime player in Kaka, and the quality of their passing cut United open repeatedly. But that was also down to United simply not working hard enough. I think it's definitely a tactic of Alex Ferguson in Europe that, when he plays that attack of Wayne Rooney, Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs, they're not really expected to track back and aid the rest of the team. There was a lot of space to exploit and, unlike Roma, Milan had a lot of quality players to do just that. It wasn't that United's line-up or system was wrong, it's just that they needed more discipline. Two of Rooney, Ronaldo (right) and Giggs should have constantly been working back to help out Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher. That midfield was being overrun and Milan's full-backs, especially Massimo Oddo, were getting forward at every opportunity.

Of the front three, I felt Ronaldo was the most culpable. There's no doubt he's a match-winner and that he's had a fine season . . . adding much more end product to his game . . . but the flaws I've always recognised in him were there to see again on Wednesday. Sometimes he camouflages them with a brilliant goal or run, but for me he's far from the all-round great player people like Ferguson have been making him out to be. It seems to be a similar scenario to David Beckham in his later days at Old Trafford, or Francesco Totti in Italy, where for all their talents, the hype constantly surpasses the reality. To see him doing step-overs at 3-0 down is baffling.

It's a pity it had to end like that for United because they are having a superb season. They were excellent once they went 2-1 down to Milan in the first leg and it's a shame they underperformed in such a big game. Again though, that's mitigated by circumstances. With three of his first-choice back four out in Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville and Patrice Evra, Ferguson obviously thought he had to gamble on Nemanja Vidic's fitness and it didn't pay off. With such shortages at the back, it's no surprise United conceded five goals over the two legs. That's where the long, hard English season costs you.

The same applies to Chelsea. Chasing the league title, they've had to practically use their players game-in, game-out and that's very difficult to balance. Like Ferguson, and Arsene Wenger earlier in the season, fatigue, injuries and suspension have caught up with Jose Mourinho's squad.

There's a lot of people pleased Chelsea were knocked out because they've had such a financial advantage, but that was somewhat negated this year with what's gone on behind the scenes. It looks very much like Roman Abramovich and Jose Mourinho have fallen out and that's worked against them. I don't feel sorry for them though and I don't feel sorry for Mourinho. He was rarely gracious but constantly self-promoting and I think a lot of people feel the same way about him.

And, for all that, Chelsea were dreadful the other night. Mourinho snorted before the game that Liverpool's tactics were going to be easy to anticipate . . . just long balls up to Peter Crouch . . . yet that's exactly what Chelsea did with Didier Drogba. Really, that sort of football is about relying on the opposition's mistakes but you'd think, with Chelsea's quality, their own ability would be sufficient.

That Mourinho espouses such a style of play is probably the root of Abramovich's unhappiness. All that money and yet it's agricultural punts up the field to Drogba. That is what he relied on to win a Champions League semi-final.

Credit to Benitez though, his meticulous preparation allowed him to take full advantage. Certainly, the goal was straight off the training ground. Benitez's thinking was clearly that Chelsea would be expecting high balls into Crouch and he pulled a stroke there. Also, I'm guessing he prepared his team for penalties as they looked very confident. He's undoubtedly a fine cup manager and, though they have little flair, Liverpool are very effective and have a great spirit about them.

I wouldn't say he totally outfoxed Mourinho but that they're in the final is down to good planning.

It's also down to freshness. Much like 2005, an underwhelming league campaign has allowed Liverpool to concentrate their resources on the Champions League. Securing third place and being eliminated from the two domestic cups so early has also eased the strain, ensuring Benitez's European campaign has been much easier to handle than Mourinho's or Ferguson's. Ultimately, that has been a large factor in why we have a repeat of the 2005 showdown. Not that it should be any less fascinating. Just as he has done throughout, Benitez will no doubt start his planning from now.