Hype and reality have never been particularly happy bedfellows.

With this in mind, the writing was on the wall long before Liverpool and AC Milan squared up to contest the 2007 Champions League final.

Yet it wasn’t so much the football that let the occasion down, even if Liverpool were frustrating toothless in converting their dominance into goals, and AC Milan showed that they are more lucky than brilliant. No, it was the organisation of the whole event that has cast a shadow over European football.

This was a final set up for AC Milan to redeem themselves and Liverpool to play the gallant losers, which both sides did admirably. It was also set up for UEFA to be hoisted by their own petard.

Perhaps European football’s governing body were onto a hiding to nothing from the outset. They have coaxed and cajoled this tournament into the monster it has become, yet when the final arrives it seems they can’t control it.

Everyone wants a slice of the Champions League pie, from players who will only play for clubs competing in it, to sponsors who will plough millions into it expecting to be able to trumpet their products and lap up the corporate hospitality, not to mention fans who will do anything to be inside the stadium the final is being played in.

It’s not quite so glamorous, however, when the players produce a ‘showpiece’ that lacks show, the men in suits claim an obscene share of the seats to turn the game into a corporate love-in, and fans with genuine tickets are denied entry to the stadium because people with fake tickets have already taken their place. In fact about the only thing UEFA can be grateful for is that despite the final being an organisational nightmare, at least it didn’t end in tragedy, although that is perhaps more to do with luck than design.

So, did the 2007 Champions League final fall under the weight of expectations for it? Certainly too many people hoped for a repeat of the Istanbul epic of two years ago, when in reality the only thing this match had in common with that one was the two participants (and their shirt colours, although clearly Liverpool don’t always win when the opposition are wearing white).

Moreover, many Liverpool fans who in 2005 merely dreamed that their team might win actually expected them to this time around. In those circumstances, the disappointment of defeat is magnified; add in the pure frustration of knowing that this Milan side are nowhere near as special as their title of champions of Europe would suggest, and the Reds will forever rue a missed opportunity for yet more silverware.

Many of their fans are also left with bitter memories, not only of the result but of their experience of the final. Demand for tickets was always going to outstrip supply, but to give Liverpool and AC Milan an official allocation of just 17,000 each in a 63,000 seater stadium is inexcusable, albeit Liverpool exacerbated the problem by only passing on 11,000 of those tickets to their fans and keeping the rest for sponsors and former players etc.

UEFA will point out that their sponsors, whose money gives the tournament it’s razzmatazz, expect their reward when the finalists meet, but to take these seats away from genuine fans, many of whom will have followed their team for years and years, tells you everything you need to know about the suited and booted controllers of modern football.

UEFA’s miserly allocation of tickets bred desperation amongst fans, many of whom then cheated their fellow supporters by buying fake tickets and causing a crush to enter the stadium, which in the process ensured that already flimsy ticket-checking procedures, which UEFA in choosing this stadium endorsed, virtually collapsed completely.

Nevertheless, it is something of a cheap shot by UEFA to blame English fans for counterfeit tickets. There are forgers and touts in every country; it’s up to the authorities to implement procedures that weed out and punish the cheats whilst ensuring smooth and safe passage for those with genuine tickets.

Clearly the lessons for next year, should UEFA see fit to learn them, are to give a fairer allocation of tickets, ensure that the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow is more fit for purpose than the Olympic Stadium in Athens was and then hope that the two teams who turn up to contest the occasion produce a more spectacular event.

Instead you suspect that Platini and co will concentrate on more mundane issues, like the Frenchman’s desire to end hastily constructed podiums for trophy presentations and have the celebrations amongst the fans instead. How ironic then that from where most people were sitting, either in the Athens stadium or in front of their TV screens, the backdrop to Paulo Maldini lifting the European Cup was made up of men and women in smart suits politely clapping. It really is true to say that every picture tells a story.