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Ryan Giggs can see major similarities between Manchester United's 1999 Euro kings and the 2008 hopefuls.
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After securing his 10th league title at the weekend, Giggs will be an integral part of Sir Alex Ferguson's squad for the showdown with Chelsea at the Luzhniki Stadium on May 21.
And, while the faces, with the exception of his own, may be different, Giggs is getting a similar vibe.
'There are similarities to 1999,' he said.
'The team spirit is the same and there is a good balance within the squad.
'The enthusiasm the young players have shown this season is great for the older ones like me and Paul Scholes, while we give experience to the younger ones.
'We had a great squad in 1999, which the manager used throughout the season.
'It is the same again this year. It is about the squad, not 11 players, just as it was then, so there are similarities.'
One of the other major similarities is their durability. In 1999, United famously came through a campaign that included double-headers with Barcelona, Inter Milan and Juventus, plus two group clashes and the never-to-be-forgotten final with Bayern Munich.
This time, United have played Roma four times, as well as Lyon and Barcelona before getting to Chelsea, so Giggs is reluctant to concede it is harder or easier than it once was.
'It was tough to win it then but it is equally so now,' he said.
'You have to be physically and mentally strong all the way through and retain your consistency. If you get to the final you deserve it.'
Giggs does not believe Chelsea have gained a vital edge through their victory over United three weeks ago.
Instead, the Welshman prefers to think about the way his side responded to being behind at the interval rather than reflect on a dismal first-half display.
'We did really well in the second half,' he said.
'I would like to think we came out of that quite positively.'
As he did at Stamford Bridge, Giggs is likely to be used as an impact player from the bench in Moscow.
Not so fellow veteran Scholes, who has already been assured of his starting spot by Ferguson - a move Giggs is in full agreement with.
'I am not picking the manager's team but Paul deserves to play because he is a great player,' he said.
'He can do things other players cannot do and his recent form has been brilliant.
'Obviously his disappointment in 1999, after being such a big part of that season as well, was massive. He has another chance now.'

Rachel Nance has the 1966 American Football League Most Valuable Player trophy on a pedestal in her New York apartment. There is also an old Boston Patriots helmet nearby.
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They are her connection to the father she lost at age 12, and they help her keep his memory alive with pride.
She never saw her father burst through the line of scrimmage for the Patriots, his powerful legs churning, but she felt his impact in other ways - like when the family would be eating at a restaurant near their Milton home, only to be interrupted by a patron looking for Jim Nance's autograph.
No one was turned down, because her dad, a Patriots star from 1965-71, always seemed to have time for everyone.
"I have so much pride for who he is and what he did," she says. "I never got to see him play, but I lived vicariously through those types of moments."
Yet as time passed, and a new generation of Patriots stars emerged, playing with a new logo on their helmet, the scope of Nance's accomplishments seemed to dim.
Rachel, now 28 and working for a publishing company in New York, couldn't help but wonder whether things would be different if her dad were alive. She wondered if anything could be done to ensure that his achievements wouldn't be forgotten. The family had essentially lost contact with the Patriots organization, and couldn't figure out the best way to reestablish connections.
"Once you get detached, it's hard to reconnect," she says. "Him not being around, it's harder to stay in touch."
So one can imagine the emotion that swept over her last Thursday when she opened her e-mail and a friend had relayed word that her father had been voted one of three 2008 finalists for induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame.
There were chills, then tears. Never a day goes by when she doesn't think about her dad, but to know that others had not forgotten him, it was almost too much to handle.
"Very, very emotional," she says. "For it to just kind of come, I'm just so happy for him. I only wish he was here to experience it."
After his standout career as a football player and wrestler at Syracuse, Nance played in 94 games over seven seasons for the Patriots, and his 45 rushing touchdowns remain a franchise record. He churned out 5,323 rushing yards, which ranks second in team history, and authored one of the great individual accomplishments of the AFL era when he totaled 1,458 rushing yards in 1966, earning him MVP honors. No AFL back ever surpassed the mark.
"That season might be the single greatest season of any Patriots running back I've ever seen," said longtime radio play-by-play man Gil Santos, who was a color commentator in 1966 alongside Bob Starr. "He was just unstoppable, a powerhouse fullback who would blast through the line of scrimmage - just so explosive, and at the same time, the nicest guy."