Milan, May 3:

Having played “perfectly” to beat Manchester United, AC Milan will now get a chance to avenge the game when it was anything but faultless.

Winning 3-0 over Manchester United on Wednesday gave the Rossoneri a 5-3 aggregate win and sent it to the European Champions League final against Liverpool, which rallied from a three-goal deficit in the title match two years ago to beat Milan on penalties.

“It’s the dream of any manager to see his team play like we did today. We played perfectly,” Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti said. “We’re happy to be in the final again and to be playing Liverpool. What happened two years ago has no importance.”

Milan, which has won the European Cup six times, will make the trip to Athens on May 23 for its 11th appearance in the final and third in five years. Kaka, who scored both goals in the 3-2 loss last week at Old Trafford, gave Milan the lead in the 11th minute. The Brazilian playmaker beat United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar after Clarence Seedorf headed the ball into his path.

Seedorf made it 2-0 in the 30th, controlling a cross from the right with his chest and shooting past Van der Sar, and substitute Alberto Gilardino scored the third in the 78th after running into the area alone and looping the ball over the United goalkeeper.

Liverpool, a five-time European champion, beat Chelsea 4-1 on penalties on Tuesday after a 1-0 win put the teams level at 1-1 on aggregate.

Milan, which has never lost to United over two legs, also knocked the English team out of the competition in the semi-finals in 1958 and 1969. The result ended United’s hopes of repeating its 1999 treble of the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup titles.

Milan dominated from the first minute, when Kaka sprinted past Nemanja Vidic and cut the ball across the face of United’s goal. But Seedorf and Filippo Inzaghi could not reach Kaka’s pass. Two minutes later, the ball fell to Seedorf on the edge of the area but Van der Sar managed to tip his drive over the crossbar.

United’s best chance of the game came from captain Ryan Giggs, who shot straight at Milan goalkeeper Dida in the 20th. The Red Devils also failed to score on its last visit to the San Siro in 2005, losing 1-0 in the first knockout round.