For many Liverpool fans, the memory of the 2007 Champions League final remains a painful one.

Just two years after the miraculous comeback in Istanbul, the Reds were up against AC Milan yet again and 'revenge' was the buzz word going around the Serie A giants' dressing room.

Similar to the 2005 encounter, the Italians took the lead in the first half when Filippo Inzaghi met Andrea Pirlo's free-kick on the stroke of the interval.

Rafael Benitez was unable to inspire an Istanbul-esque comeback this time, though, and Inzaghi grabbed his and Milan's second of the night with just eight minutes remaining.

It wasn't all doom and gloom for Liverpool. Dirk Kuyt managed to nick a late consolation goal to give Benitez's men a glimmer of hope but it proved to be in vain.

Nevertheless, it was still a memorable night for the Dutch forward.

"To play in that Champions League final was a fantastic achievement, but losing it is one of my biggest disappointments," Kuyt told FourFourTwo.

"We didn’t control the game enough in order to hurt them, and they scored two goals at the right moment.

"In the end, I scored our goal a bit too late, or we could have come back like Istanbul."

It turns out Kuyt was somewhat fortunate to play any part in Athens after coming very close to suffering a bizarre injury before the final.

Kuyt, who now plays for Feyenoord, revealed that Benitez had taken the players on a team-bonding go-karting trip ahead of the game and although he didn't take part, Peter Crouch almost ended his chances of playing against Milan.

A reckless Crouch lost control of his kart and veered directly towards Kuyt, who had to jump over the tall striker to get out of the way.

He added: "To be honest, I was happy that I was playing in that match at all, as before the final there had been an incident that almost prevented me from taking part.

"When we were in the training camp before the final, the squad went go-karting. I didn’t join in, as I wanted to rest a small injury, but I went along to watch and picked a safe-looking spot to stand beside the track with Rafa.

"Out of nowhere, Peter Crouch drove straight at me at roughly 35 mph. He couldn’t brake!

"The only thing I could do was to jump in the air, and in the end I just managed to jump over Peter, and he crashed into cardboard boxes behind me.

"I was within a whisker of having my ankles torn to pieces, and would surely have missed the Champions League final."

"It was incredible that I saw him just in time and could jump over him! Crouchy’s face was as pale as death, he’d had some kind of blackout. Fortunately everything was all right."

Oh Crouch! We know you must have been desperate to start the final but that doesn't mean you can sabotage your fellow striker's chances of playing.

Despite the go-karting incident, Crouch did come on for the final 10 minutes in Athens to play alongside Kuyt.

Luckily, Kuyt was in a forgiving mood!