Three English teams in semis for third year in a row

For the third year in a row, England has three clubs in the semi-finals of the Champions League with Spanish giants Barcelona the other team looking to claim the coveted silverware in Rome next month.

English football will have a team in the final for the fifth year running following the setbacks of Liverpool (to Milan) and Arsenal (to Barcelona) and the triumphs of the same Liverpool (over Milan) and Manchester United (over Chelsea last year). The 2008 showdown in Moscow was the first all-English final in the history of the competition.

In the quarter-finals, Liverpool were involved in another all-English affair against Chelsea. This time they finished on the losing end − 1-3 at Anfield and 4-4 at Stamford Bridge.

Manchester United ousted FC Porto 3-2 on aggregate. After a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford, the Portuguese thought they had a good chance of reaching the last four but the Red Devils had the last laugh as they progressed thanks to a Cristiano Ronaldo 'rocket'.

Arsenal sunk Villarreal in the other quarter-final. After a 1-1 draw at the Stadio el Madrigal, the Gunners completed the job at home, firing on all cylinders to gain a resounding 3-0 triumph.

After the Chelsea-Liverpool clash in the last eight, another all-English tie was inevitable and this will feature Arsenal and holders United. Chelsea will have to face in-form Barcelona.

This will be Arsenal's third direct clash with English clubs in Europe. The past two ended as follows:

2007-08 (Champions League, quarter-final): Liverpool − Home 1-1 (Adebayor; Kuyt); Away 2-4 (Diaby, Adebayor; Hyypia, Torres, Gerrard pen, Babel).

2003-04 (Champions League, quarter-final): Chelsea − Home 1-1 (Gudjohnsen; Pires); Away 1-2 (Reyes − Lampard, Bridge).

Manchester United encountered a fellow English team on three occasions and the outcome is 3-0 in their favour.

2007-08 (Champions League final, Moscow): Chelsea − 1-1 (Ronaldo; Lampard). United won the penalty shoot-out 6-5.

1964-65 (Fairs Cup, third round): Everton − Home 1-1 (Connelly; Pickering); Away 2-1 (Connelly, Herd; Pickering).

1963-64 (Cup Winners' Cup, second round): Tottenham − Away 0-2 (Mackay, Dyson); Home 4-1 (Herd 2, Charlton 2; Greaves).

Places in last four

Arsenal, Chelsea and Man. United have already figured prominently in the European Cup semi-finals before.

Arsenal reached the last four once, in 2005-06, defeating Villarreal 1-0 on aggregate.

Chelsea have been in four semi-finals, three against Liverpool − 2005 (lost 0-1 on aggregate); 2007 (down 1-4 on penalties after 1-1 aggregate) and 2008 (won 4-3 over two legs). The other semi-final showing came against Monaco in 2004 with the French going through 5-2 on aggregate.

United have featured in 10 semi-finals but only reached the final on three occasions.

2007-08 United-Barcelona (agg: 1-0).
2006-07 United-Milan (agg: 3-5).
2001-02 United-B. Leverkusen (H2-2, A1-1 - agg: 3-3).
1998-99 United-Juventus (agg: 4-3).
1996-97 United-Borussia Dortmund (agg: 0-2).
1968-69 United-Milan (agg: 1-2).
1967-68 United-R. Madrid (agg: 4-3).
1965-66 United-P. Belgrade (agg: 1-2).
1957-58 United- Milan (agg: 2-5).
1956-57 United-R. Madrid (agg: 3-5).

Hiddink a winner

Avram Grant, the former Chelsea manager, succeeded in breaking new ground last year by guiding the Blues to the European Cup final which they lost to Manchester United after a dramatic penalty shoot-out.

Dutchman Guus Hiddink, now in temporary charge at Stamford Bridge after replacing the sacked Luiz Felipe Scolari, won the coveted trophy with PSV Eindhoven in 1988.

Chelsea, who start their two-legged duel against Barcelona at the Nou Camp, will have captain John Terry back from suspension. The Blues have only lost once in the tournament this season, a 1-3 setback away at Roma.

This is the fifth meeting for Chelsea against Barcelona in the Champions League. In their last two meetings, the Blues attained four points from their group matches with a 1-0 win at home and a 2-2 draw away.

The three other direct encounters came in the knock-out stage. Chelsea won in the second round in 2005 (5-4 over two legs) and lost the remaining two - a quarter-final in 2000 (4-6) and in the second round in 2006 (2-3).

The United-Arsenal semi-final will kick off at Old Trafford, where the hosts are undefeated in their last 21 Champions League matches. Their last upset came in the second round in 2004-05 against Milan 0-1.

Now that their dream of a quintet of prizes is over, following the FA Cup semi-final exit to Everton last weekend, Alex Ferguson will want the Red Devils to become the first club to retain the UEFA Champions League title since the tournament was revamped in 1992.

Meanwhile, Arsenal will be keen to claim their 100th win in Europe after chalking up their 99th triumph with the 3-0 trimming of Villarreal in London.

Their total has been attained as follows: European Cup - 60 victories; UEFA Cup - 12; Cup Winners' Cup - 15 and Fairs Cup -12.