London: If only Paolo Maldini could turn back the clock 12 years.
AC Milan's veteran defender, fit and available after a long-term tendon injury, will face FC Barcelona in Wednesday's Champions League second-leg semifinal trailing 1-0 after losing to the Spanish club in Italy.
Now aged 37, Maldini was in the Milan lineup that shrugged off the absence of suspended defenders Franco Baresi and Alessandro Costacurta to outplay Barcelona 4-0 in the 1994 Champions League final in Athens.
Milan need a similar performance to reach the final for the third time in four seasons, and hope that five players injured in Saturday's bruising 3-1 Serie A victory over Messina will be fit to play Barcelona.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti is waiting on the fitness of Brazilian playmaker Kaka, Italian stars Alessandro Nesta and Massimo Ambrosini, Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko and Brazilian defender Cafu.
Arsenal takes a 1-0 advantage over another Spanish club, Villarreal, into Tuesday's other semifinal. That means there's a strong likelihood the May 17 final in Paris will be between a club which has never been in the final against a team which has won the title just once.
Despite its history and 41 domestic league and cup titles in Spain, Barcelona has won European club soccer's biggest prize only once, in 1992. Its last appearance in the final was that 4-0 thumping by Milan 12 years ago, and striker Samuel Eto'o is taking nothing for granted.
"I can't see the Eiffel Tower yet. We're only halfway there," Eto'o said.
"Soccer is so crazy that things can turn around at any moment. We have to keep calm heads even if our hearts are hot."
Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard won the European Cup with AC Milan and knows the history of the club.
"I played in Milan and I know what will be going through its players' heads," he said. "We won in San Siro and that's fantastic but don't think that everything's done. Our work is not over."
The other semifinal is further down the eastern coast of Spain the night before, and Arsenal's followers hope their team can hang onto its slender first-leg advantage.
The Gunners have been playing without several key defenders for several weeks, and could be without Swiss centerback Philippe Senderos who injured his knee in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Tottenham in the English league.
If he is sidelined, there's a chance experienced England centerback Sol Campbell could return despite breaking his nose in a comeback game a week ago.
Wenger gave star striker Thierry Henry something of a rest by dropping him to the bench, and the French forward went on in the second half to score Arsenal's equalizer.
Villarreal's Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini said his team need to score early on Tuesday but also make sure not to fall for one of Arsenal's fast counterattacks.
The Villarreal players acknowledged the team played badly last Wednesday.
"We hardly created chances but they controlled Roman (Riquelme) and that was the key," midfielder Josico Moreno said.
"At our ground it's going to be another match and we have everything to play for."
Sebastian Viera, who missed the first leg through suspension, is set to replace Mariano Barbosa in goal.
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