The hit-man has been hurting for the past three years after Rafael Benitez delivered the trophy to Liverpool following a remarkable victory against AC Milan.

But Rooney will get his chance on Wednesday in Moscow when United face Chelsea in the first all-English showdown in the final of Europe's top club competition. It has been a long wait for the 22-year-old, born in Liverpool and raised as an Everton supporter.

He said: "It is difficult when you see one of your rivals winning things. When Liverpool took the trophy, it was hard to take.

"Because they haven't really been challenging for the league in the last few years, they've had chances to rest players before big Champions League games and that helped them. By Liverpool winning the Champions League, it's made us want to win it even more."

Rooney watched the 1999 final when United won the trophy with a famous last-gasp victory against Bayern Munich in Barcelona. He explained: "A few of us watched the match and most of my mates were Liverpool fans.

"It was just me and another pal who were Everton supporters. We wanted United to win and obviously my mates didn't.

"When they won, I was really happy and we were winding the Liverpool fans up. The atmosphere there sounded brilliant, so hopefully I can be involved in something like that this year."