Milan's impressive victory over Manchester United may not have given many people exactly what they wanted - an all-England European play-off between Chelsea and Manchester United - but its set up a sumptuous repeat of the 2005 Champions League final between Liverpool and AC Milan.
From now until the May 23 clash in Athens, talk in the football world will revolve around whether Liverpool can do it again. Can the Reds win another Champions League final at the expense of the Rossoneri? Will the drama of that night in Istanbul two years ago be repeated? Will Liverpool again need to come back from the dead and win it on penalties?
But all the talk of glorious Liverpool comebacks will probably completely overshadow a fair resurgence from AC Milan itself, as Carlo Ancelotti's men have put aside months of poor Serie A form to hit their straps when it counts and be one match from re-claiming the title of European champion that they won in 2003.
The dominant display at the San Siro over a United side declared to be nigh on unbeatable after its 7-1 quarter-final annihilation of Roma, is perhaps one of the biggest transformations in form since the Red Devils themselves came back from a two goal deficit to defeat Juventus in 1999 and move on to claim a historic championship treble.
It's a transformation that no one saw coming though, particularly going back to last December when AC Milan was forced to face up to the realisation that it could almost be relegation fodder itself.
At that stage of the season, after winning its first three matches, the Rossoneri won just one match from September 20 to November 16 and had lost four of its last five encounters.
Right from the outset, it had been a strange season for Milan though. The club had been docked eight points for its involvement in the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal - a penalty that had been significantly worse before several appeals saw it reduced to little more than a slap on the wrist - but optimism in the Rossoneri camp was still high. After all, the club had finished second the year before; it had outscored crosstown rivals Inter Milan by 12 points in 2005/06 and had even managed to secure itself a Champions League place when many pundits believed it should have been relegated to Serie B along with match-fixing buddy Juventus.
Andriy Shevchenko may have left to ply his trade at Chelsea but Milan's squad still had Kaka along with Italy's World Cup heroes in Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Alessandro Nesta and Alberto Gilardino. Indeed, so confident was Milan going in to a season without normal Scudetto rival Juventus that Kaka was heard to remark about the match-fixing penalty, 'Eight points, what's that? Two wins over Inter'.
However, after convincingly winning the first three matches to almost immediately move into a positive points margin, the rot set in for Carlo Ancelotti's side.
Facing injuries, a lack of form and the fact that bitter rival Inter was well on its way to cruising to a Scudetto, AC Milan was also forced to acknowledge that it could be heading for a relegation battle if things were not turned around, as the early stages of December saw the club occupying 15th position on the Serie A table with just 11 points on the board.
The situation seemed to get worse for the Rossoneri when regular goalkeeper Dida suffered an injury, with his place in the side taken by long-term back-up Australian Zeljko Kalac.
Unlike many of his Milan team-mates, who had enjoyed their time in Germany during the summer, Kalac had been forced to endure a mountain of criticism following a mistake during the Socceroo's cut-throat group clash with Croatia that almost saw Australia bundled out of the World Cup in the first round.
However, with Spider Kalac quickly acquitting himself behind the sticks for the Rossoneri, the club started to gradually turn their season around.
It started with a 1-0 win over Messina as skipper Maldini led the way by scoring the winner, and quickly gathered pace as the Rossoneri strung together two consecutive 3-0 wins over Catania and Udinese respectively just before Christmas.
Since the winter break the statistics have been even more impressive as Milan has won 10 of 14 Serie A matches with three draws and only one loss to crosstown rival Internazionale. There were a couple of scares along the way as Siena pushed the Rossoneri in a 4-3 result, while Massimo Ambrosini scored an injury time winner as AC defeated Sampdoria 1-0, but in general the second half of Milan's season has seen Ancelotti's side gradually climb up the Serie A ranks to the point where it could possibly finish the season in second ahead of a fading Roma.
There have been several reasons for the improved showing. To start with, the wonderful Pirlo, whose superb World Cup displays for Italy were a masterclass in efficient ball use, has again hit his straps, while Seedorf and Kaka have also lifted in the midfield as they sought to provide extra cover for AC's geriatric and injury prone defenders in Maldini and Nesta.
While many saw the recruitment of the out of form and distinctly tubby Ronaldo from Real Madrid as merely the chance to watch a decent fight between himself and Brazilian rival Kaka, especially as the two players had fought out a running media battle during the World Cup, Ronnie, instead, decided to use his chance at the San Siro to remind everyone just how dangerous he can be.
Although Ronaldo has been cup tied and unable to play in the Champions League after playing for Real during the group stages, the increase in confidence since his arrival has translated itself into a significant improvement in results at Europe's top level. Many had questioned AC's credentials in this tournament after it cruised through the group stages against the likes of AEK Athens, Lille and Anderlecht. These questions refused to go away as the club struggled to a 1-0 aggregate win over Celtic in the second round, but since then, impressive victories over Bayern and now United over two legs has seen the club on the brink of European glory.
Throughout the season, Kaka has also been Milan's Steven Gerrard. He scored the goals early on in the season that kept his side in with a chance in both competitions, while over the last five matches the Seedorf/Kaka combination has increasingly come to the fore. During this time, Dutchman Seedorf has also excelled in the role of trequartista playing behind the two strikers. In the second leg against United, he was magnificent with his intelligent header from the touchline setting up Kaka's first goal. But it will be his second goal that will long live in the memory of Rossoneri fans as the Dutchman latched onto a United defensive mistake before riding two tackles and firing home to all but send his club on its way to Athens. It is definitely no coincidence that he insisted on wearing Rui Costa's old number 10 jersey.
Much of the credit will also have to go to the unflappable Ancelotti as well, for he has retained his faith in the players at his disposal and made only minimal changes. Six weeks ago, the rumour mill out of Italy was suggesting that AC's famously image conscious officials were attempting to quietly move the coach from his position at the San Siro, where he had a year of his contract remaining, into the role of Italian national coach, as former Livorno boss Roberto Donadoni seemed to be struggling with the managing the Azzurri amid heightened World Cup expectations. However, the upturn in both Milan's and the Azzurri's fortunes since then, will more than likely see Ancelotti see out his time at AC.
Many though, it must be admitted, probably wanted to see Chelsea and Manchester United fight it out for three crowns in the Premiership, FA Cup and Champions League. The FA Cup final still remains but the Premiership is increasingly looking like United's. As for the Champions League, AC Milan has the chance to have another crack at Liverpool. It fell at the last hurdle last time, but this time around it has the cattle on the park and the necessary form to walk away with its seventh European trophy in Athens.