So glory and despair arrived in their own good time. That it was Milan who celebrated domination of Europe was almost incidental in the end. As predicted, the gods of the Italian game were faithful to deep-rooted tradition in last night's Champions League showpiece in Old Trafford.

When these teams come to town, it really is grim up north.

After 119 minutes, the resolute Lilian Thuram dived across Juve's goal-line to head Andriy Shevchenko's cross to safety and there the long day closed. A frantic season would have its denouement on the penalty spot.

The Maldini dynasty came full circle in strange circumstances. Shevchenko scored the winning goal from the penalty spot after a draining five minutes of dead-ball drama featuring a series of terrible penalties.

It wasn't about football in the end, just plain old grace under pressure. For all its flamboyance and noise, there is a fiercely puritan streak to the Italian game. When these teams meet, goals are rare and precious gemstones.

Familiarity has much to do with it. Strip away the reputations and glittering surnames and you are left with the kind of raw, back street fight between foes and brothers that have seen every feint before.

As dusk fell over Manchester, we might as well have been in Turin. It was a classically local encounter, with ponderous build-ups, bursts of aggression and smothered attack after smothered attack.

Nervous and second-guessing in the stands, the tifosi had all but spent themselves by half-time.

Little wonder this is a nation addicted to caffeine.

The withdrawal of the mercurial Rui Costa by Milan coach Ancelotti Carletto seemed like an admission that this was not a night that could reward fleet-footed magic. It was a final of pure, masculine backbone, a primitive and unpretty thing. The intrigue lay in wondering which of these two giants would buckle first.

Marcello Lippi made alterations to Juve as a sense of the inevitable fell over the ground. Birindelli's appearance for the disconsolate Igor Tudor co-incided with Juve's veteran back-line finding its teeth.

Thuram, Tacchinardi and Ferrara, tired of watching Milan weave pretty patterns around their heels, turned the screw. Antonio Conte was on the field just 70 seconds after the restart when he wrapped a cross from Del Piero off the top of the Milanese bar.

His threat waned after Edgar Davids departed the theatre. The Europeans in Old Trafford settled in for a dour and terse match, typical of the confrontations these teams serve up in Serie A.

The first-half minutes belonged to Milan. With Rui Costa dancing with mischief around midfield, they laced together a series of stinging attacks in which Andriy Shev-chenko was the central feature.

The Russian caused severe bother along Juve's left flank, with Edgar Davids repeatedly fussing over Montero's corner of the park.

As it was, Shevchenko had a goal disallowed after just seven minutes; a deflected pass from Inzhagi was deftly clipped beneath Buffon, but as the Milanese peeled away in celebration, referee Merkus ruled accidental off-side.

Nine minutes later, Milan truly should have scored. Seedorf angled a low, precise pass for Shevenko, and Inzhagi, in splendid isolation eight yards from goal, headed with accuracy but too close to Buffon.

Juve's evening was leaden and conservative in comparison, Zambrotta's spirited thrusts along the left flank the only source of colour through their pale approach.

Both Seedorf and Costacuta were forced to drag him down wide of the Milan penalty area, but Del Piero's curling frees were identically predictable and harmless.

When Juve attempted to build from deep, Maldini and Nesta gobbled up the high ball aimed at Trezeguet and distant, hopeless shots from Thuram and Del Piero met only the jeers of the rossineri.

Rui Costa seemed to mesmerise Juventus with the insolence and delicacy of his touch. Alone, he appeared to operate with all the time in the world and repeatedly found Seedorf, Inzhagi and Shev-chenko despite the black and white shirts around his boyish frame.

The trouble was they failed to finish. Andrea Pirlo spied Rui Costa lurking on the edge of the box, but his shot was pitifully lame.

Juve looked far from stately in extra-time, with Thuram and Ferrara fly-kicking clearances and Trezeguet a picture of Gallic frustration up front. For all that, they might have scored first, with Del Piero forcing a save from Dida.

All that was long forgotten by the time Paulo Maldini raised the trophy some 40 years after his father Cesar first brought it to Milan.That act will endure long after the ruined and torrid details of this final are forgotten.

AC MILAN: Dida, Costacurta (Roque Junior 65), Nesta, Maldini, Kaladze, Gattuso, Rui Costa (Ambrosini 87), Seedorf, Pirlo (Serginho 70), Shevchenko, Inzaghi. Subs Not Used: Abbiati, Rivaldo, Laursen, Brocchi. Booked: Costacurta.

JUVENTUS: Buffon, Ferrara, Montero, Tudor (Birindelli 42), Zambrotta, Thuram, Tacchinardi, Davids (Zalayeta 65), Camoranesi (Conte 45), Del Piero, Trezeguet. Subs Not Used: Chimenti, Pessotto, Iuliano, Di Vaio. Booked: Tacchinardi, Del Piero.

Referee: M Merk (Germany).