English teams equal feat of 2001

This is the second time since the Champions League was revamped in 1992 that three English sides have made it to the last eight in Europe's top competition for clubs in the same year.

The 2000-01 sides in the quarter-finals were Arsenal, Leeds and Man. United. This time the protagonists are Chelsea, Liverpool and Man. United again.

Leeds are currently fighting against relegation to League One.

It would indeed be a disaster for the Yorkshire side if they had to go down at the end of the season.

Mismanagement and the spending of cash without any accountability are perhaps the main reasons behind Leeds' appalling decline.

In 2001, Leeds reached the last four after starting the tournament from the qualifying stage. They had finished second behind Milan in Group H. Against the Italians they held the upperhand with a 1-0 (Bowyer) home win and a 1-1 (Matteo) away draw.

In the quarter-finals they saw off Deportivo La Coruna: 3-0 at home (Harte, Smith, Ferdinand) and a 0-2 defeat away. They were eliminated by Valencia - 0-0 at home and 0-3 away.

In 2001, Manchester United were ousted by Bayern Munich 1-3 (Giggs) on aggregate in the quarter-finals and Arsenal bowed out to Valencia at the same stage on the away goals rule after a 2-2 aggregate (2-1 at home; 0-1 away).

Valencia at the Bridge

Valencia will again travel to England, this time to face champions Chelsea. The first leg is at Stamford Bridge next Tuesday.

The Blues, who won the Cup Winners' Cup twice in their history (1971, 1998), are participating in the Champions League for the fifth time.

Shrewd boss Jose Mourinho is bidding to win the coveted trophy for a second time following his success with FC Porto in 2004, just before he joined the Londoners.

If Chelsea surmount this hurdle, they will reach the last four of the competition for the second time in three years.

Chelsea have won their last four home games in the Champions League, conceding only one goal.

Didier Drogba is looking to finish as top marksman in the competition. His tally of five goals, shared by Morientes (Valencia) and Raul (Real Madrid), is only surpassed by Kaka (Milan) and Van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid), both on six.

Real Madrid players cannot add to their tally, however, as they have been knocked out by Bayern Munich in the previous round.

This will be the first clash between Chelsea and Valencia. The English champions are proud of their home record against Spanish sides, having lost only once from nine encounters.

Liverpool, who as holders last year went out to Benfica, have earned the plaudits for ousting 2006 winners Barcelona.

This is the Reds' fifth year in the Champions League and their 34th in European competition.

Next Wednesday they will be on their travels to face Dutch team PSV Eindhoven.

This is the second time that Liverpool will meet PSV this season, following the group clashes - the Reds drew 0-0 at the Philips Stadion and won 2-0 (Gerrard, Crouch) at Anfield.

There were only two other occasions when an English side met the same opponents in the group phase of the tournament and then in the knock-out stages.

Manchester United met Bayern Munich twice in 1998-99 and repeated the double meeting against Deportivo in 2001-02.

Liverpool midfielder Mohamed Sissoko will be suspended for the first leg. PSV have a serious doubt on the fitness of Brazilian Alex.

50th year in Europe

Manchester United just celebrated their 50th year in European football, marking the occasion with a match against a European XI which they won 4-3 (Rooney 2, Brown, Ronaldo - Malouda, Diouf 2) at Old Trafford.

In United's last outing with Lille, the Frenchmen tried to overturn the 0-1 first leg result but lost the tie at Old Trafford 0-1 as well.

That was the 15th time that a side attempted to stage a comeback in their opponents' ground in the Champions League and failed.

The last side to succeed was Ajax in 1995-96, when, in the semi-finals, they lost the first leg at home 0-1 to Panathinaikos but turned the tables on the Greeks in the return, 3-0.

United are in their 12th Champions League campaign and this time they have broken a negative sequence in which they had failed to reach the quarter-finals for three consecutive years.

Next Wednesday, the Mancunians will face Roma at the Olympic Stadium for the first clash between these two great sides in continental competition.

In away matches against Italian teams, United stayed unbeaten three times.

Berbatov vs Kanoute in UEFA Cup tie

The only British side left in the UEFA Cup this year are Tottenham Hotspur. The Londoners won all eight ties they played so far and this will give them the boost needed to go all the way.

In the quarter-finals, they will square up to holders Sevilla at their patch of Estadio Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan, meeting today week in the first leg.

Spurs are in their fifth quarter-final in cup competition in three seasons. Dimitar Berbatov is the leading scorer in the competition with seven goals.

Sevilla have former Spurs striker Fredi Kanoute in their ranks and his duel with Berbatov can decide the issue.