The Serie A runners-up finished strongest with Shevchenko denied by two outstanding Jamie Carragher tackles and on the line by Traore after Dudek had risked an Anfield lynching by spilling Kaka's cross at the feet of the usually deadly striker.
Jon Dahl Tomasson sliced the first chance of a balanced extra-time wide while Gerrard, as an emergency right-back, Carragher and Sami Hyypia swept up everything Milan had to offer.
Shevchenko should have won the cup with only three minutes left when Dudek blocked his header on the line and then somehow diverted his rebound over the bar from only two yards. And so to the dreaded penalties, down at the Milan end, but the momentum was with Liverpool as soon as Serginho sent the first spot-kick over the Bosphorus and into Asia.
Then, as Hamann, Cisse and Smicer all converted, Dudek produced his finest moment in an Anfield shirt to save from Pirlo and finally Shevchenko, the man who won the European Cup for Milan with the fifth penalty in 2003. Not this time.
With one more flying save the glory days returned to Liverpool -28 years to the day that they were first crowned European champions with victory over Borussia Moenchengladbach in Rome.
The subsequent years have brought both the highs and lows of Liverpool's history but after suffering enviously on the sidelines for so long they can rejoice from the peak of Europe. Liverpool reign in Europe once more.
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