Goals and drama are expected when Liverpool and Real Madrid meet in a highly anticipated Champions League final on Saturday.
But aside from the debate over whether Mo Salah or Cristiano Ronaldo will prove the matchwinner, there is an unusual milestone from an Irish perspective.
For the just the second time in eight European Cup finals, Liverpool will line out without an Irish player in their squad.
Steve Heighway played in the victories over Borussia Mönchengladbach (1977) and Club Brugge (’78) while Mark Lawrenson and Ronnie Whelan were there for the Bruce Grobelaar-inspired penalty shootout win against Roma in '84 and the loss to Juventus overshadowed by the Heysel Stadium disaster the following year.
Jim Beglin was also on board in ’85, meaning 1981 was the only team without an Irishman in the first five finals, though that side featured a McDermott, an Irwin and two Kennedys, meaning we should surely be able to claim an ancestry credit at least.
The Reds’ last two appearances in the decider were the ‘miracle of Istanbul’ comeback against AC Milan in 2005 and the less celebrated ‘miracle of Pippo Inzaghi’s shoulder’ defeat to the same opposition in 2007.
The man flying the flag for Ireland in those two finals was a right-back whose talent was perhaps never fully appreciated by either club or country.
In an age when converted wingers were starting to coming into vogue Steve Finnan was old school in his ability to offer both defensive solidity and incisive forward running.
As manager Rafael Benitez was to later marvel: "Finnan is a player who will always play at a consistent level.
"He will be seven, eight, nine or even ten out of ten every week. Some players find a good level for individual games but don't do the same every week. Finnan does it for a whole season."
Mr Consistent had a circuitous route to the big time. Born in Limerick but raised in Essex, he was on the books of both Crystal Palace and Wimbledon as a schoolboy before joining non-league Welling United as a 16-year-old in 1993.
Birmingham City paid the Conference side £100,000 for Finnan in 1995 but it was a loan move, later made permanent, to Notts County that established him as up and coming talent.
Kevin Keegan paid £600k to take him to Fulham at the age of 22 and he helped the club to two promotions in three seasons. He played a starring role in the club’s first two seasons back in the top flight, and in 2002 even got his hands on some silverware in the form of the much-maligned Intertoto Cup.
At this stage he had established himself in an Irish squad overflowing with riches at right full.
Less than two years separated Gary Kelly, Steve Carr and Finnan, which perhaps accounts for Finnan being the most capped of the trio with 53 appearances. By comparison, Ian Harte and Gary Breen both won more than 60 in a similar era.
Finnan’s most glorious moment in green came against the Netherlands at Lansdowne Road in September 2001.
He advanced into the penalty area and bamboozled Barcelona star Phillip Cocu with some pre-Ronaldo-era stepovers before dragging the ball back on to his left foot and flicking the ball across the box.
Only Damien Duff knows whether his intention was to head the ball or dummy it but his intervention distracted the Dutch defence and it fell to Jason McAteer to belt home the sweetest of half volleys and set Ireland firmly on the road to qualification for the 2002 World Cup.
Finnan replaced the half-fit McAteer in the opening game of that tournament against Cameroon and started the remainder of Ireland’s games in Japan and Korea as manager Mick McCarthy shifted Kelly to midfield.
Now firmly on the radar of England’s top clubs, he returned to Fulham for one more season, helping them to an unlikely escape from relegation, before Gerard Houllier paid £3.5m to take him to Liverpool.
Injuries restricted him to 22 league appearances in his first campaign on Merseyside but he played 52 times under new manager Rafa Benitez in 2004/5, with the final game of the season by far the most memorable.
Eleven defeats away from home meant Liverpool limped to fifth place in the Premiership but an unlikely run in the Champions League saw them clinch a place in the final courtesy of Luis Garcia’s ‘ghost goal’.
Finnan started the decider against Milan but it’s fair to say things didn’t exactly go to plan. The Rossoneri ripped Liverpool’s defence apart with a sumptuous display of counter-attacking football and led 3-0 at half-time thanks to goals from Paolo Maldini, Hernan Crespo and orchestrator in chief Kaka.
It got worse for Finnan as the physio decided a thigh injury he had sustained meant he should be substituted. Didi Hamann came on and steadied the ship and one of the most famous fightbacks in sport began.
"I was having treatment so I missed all three of our goals," he told the Liverpool Echo in 2015.
"But I knew what was happening. I could tell from the roars. I knew it was us scoring because the noise was so great. It was surreal. By the time I got back out to watch it was 3-3."
Finnan joked that being substituted was his biggest impact in a Liverpool shirt.
"I always say I changed the game that night. If I hadn’t have got injured, we wouldn’t have won the European Cup.
"That injury I got was the best thing that ever happened to Liverpool.
"I didn’t want to come off but I knew I had a problem. At the time I wasn’t happy but it was the right decision. With me coming off, Rafa changed the system. Didi was so important to the comeback that followed."
"That was a period of great success with the Champions League in 2005 and the FA Cup a year later. Unfortunately, the club hasn’t had that type of success in recent years."
Finnan held off competition, or lack of, from Josemi for his place as Liverpool improved their league finish to third the following season and won the FA Cup.
In 2007 they were back in the final against their familiar Italian foes, though this time there was to be no fairytale.
The Irishman was replaced late on in that defeat by the raw Alvaro Arbeloa, who Benitez bafflingly preferred to him in the season that followed, and by summer his Liverpool career was over.
Finnan played on for two more years, the first at Espanyol and second with a Portsmouth team that reached the 2010 FA Cup final, before retiring shortly after his 34th birthday.
Contrary to reports that emerged when a phone number mix-up ensured he missed a Champions League reunion in 2015 (#FindSteveFinnan), he has not become a hermit but is simply happy to leave his football career behind him and concentrate on the property development company he runs with brother Sean.
"I enjoy my life outside of football now," he said. "I was never interested in going into coaching or being a pundit.
"I was privileged to play for Liverpool," he said. "I feel very lucky. That was a period of great success with the Champions League in 2005 and the FA Cup a year later. Unfortunately, the club hasn’t had that type of success in recent years.
"I was part of a great team. At the time you don’t appreciate it as much. With the pressure at Liverpool, you are expected to win the league every year. But looking back, it was a nice time to be there. A successful period."
Keep up to date with Saturday's Champions League final with our live blog on RTÉ Sport online and the News Now App. Live coverage on RTÉ2 Television from 7pm
