John Arne Riise believes Liverpool are AC Milan's worst nightmare because they hate playing against physical sides.

And the Norwegian full-back believes Liverpool will never allow the Italians the freedom to attack they had in the Champions League semi-final against Manchester United.

Riise prepares for his second final showdown with Milan next Wednesday in Athens convinced Liverpool can repeat their success of 2005.

Riise and his colleagues are increasingly aware that Milan believe them to be inferior to Manchester United, who the Italians eliminated in the semi-finals.

Their coach Carlo Ancelotti claims Liverpool are the poorest of the four semi-finalists and even United chief Sir Alex Ferguson believes Liverpool have no hope of success.

But Riise said: ''We don't really care what people say, we deserve to be in the final. And we know Milan don't like playing against teams like us. I heard some things earlier that they think they are the more tactical and we are the more physical side. But we can play football too.

''And they know we are strong and physical and we will use that to our advantage. They hate playing against those sort of teams.

''They looked like they struggled against the physical aspect when they played Bayern Munich earlier in the competition, even though they got through. But it is not something they enjoy facing.

''And we will play our own style of football that has been successful for us.''