Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal are seasoned campaigners in UEFA’s top competition for clubs – the European Cup/Champions League.
This year, Chelsea are also making their 10th appearance in the competition. They had never taken part in the European Cup before it was revamped and re-named as the UEFA Champions League.
Yet, the Blues almost became England’s first club to participate in this competition way back in 1955.
However, on that occasion, the Football League, who ruled the game in England, opposed the participation of English teams on the continent.
Chelsea’s record in the Cham-pions League reads:
1999-00: quarter-finals
2003-04: semi-finals
2004-05: semi-finals
2005-06: last 16
2006-07: semi-final
2007-08: runners-up
2008-09: semi-finals
2009-10: last 16
2010-11: quarter-finals
With the arrival of Roman Abra-movich as club owner, Chelsea shot to stardom and became a fixture in the competition.
It is no secret that the Russian billionaire has spent a fortune on new players and coaches in a bid to fulfil his dream and see the Blues lift the coveted cup.
Chelsea came very close in 2008 but a slip on the penalty spot by skipper John Terry in the Moscow final against Manchester United proved costly.
In this season’s group stage, no English team lost their opening match but Chelsea were the only ones who managed to claim all the three points − home against Bayer Leverkusen 2-0.
Manchester City shared the points in their debut at Eastlands against Napoli 1-1 and the other two sides were on the away front − Arsenal at Borussia Dortmund 1-1 and United at Benfica 1-1.
The second group matches will be played next week.
City in Munich
Manchester City have become the ninth English team to taste Champions League football following Arsenal, Blackburn, Chelsea, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle and Tottenham.
Group A is the toughest as City will face Bayern Munich and Villarreal following their first match against Napoli.
The Citizens travel to Germany next to take on Bayern Munich who have an added incentive to reach the final this season since the showpiece will take place at their own Allianz Arena.
This is the first duel between City and Bayern. In past encounters with German clubs, City shared the honours as follows:
1969-70 (Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final): Schalke − Away 0-1, Home 5-1 (aggregate 5-2).
1978-79 (UEFA Cup quarter-final): Bor. Moenchengladbach − Home 1-1, Away 1-3 (2-4).
2008-09 (UEFA Cup group match): Schalke − Away 2-0.
2008-09 (UEFA Cup quarter-final): Hamburg − Away 1-3, Home 2-1 (3-4).
In their second outing from Group C, Manchester United host Swiss side Basel next week.
In the only previous meeting between these two sides, in phase two of the 2002-03 tournament, United gained four points with a 3-1 away win and a 1-1 home draw.
That season, United lasted up to the last eight before being knocked out by Real Madrid.
United lost 1-3 in Spain and won at home 4-3 to bow out 6-5 on aggregate. That year the final was played at Old Trafford.
Chelsea travel to the Mestalla to play guests to Valencia, the Spanish side who parted with Juan Mata for him to join Chelsea last month.
Valencia have struggled finan-cially in recent years and had to accept Chelsea’s £23.5 million for the transfer of Mata.
The Blues have the upperhand over the Spaniards in their past two commitments in the same competition.
In 2007, Chelsea saw off Valencia 3-2 on aggregate (home 1-1, away 2-1) to reach the semi-finals only to go down to compatriots Liverpool in a penalty shoot-out 1-4 after a 1-1 aggregate.
In the season that followed, Valencia and Chelsea met in the group phase and the English team earned four points (away 2-1, home 0-0).
Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger will again be suspended for Arsenal’s home match against Olympiakos next week.
The Frenchman was delighted after watching his team overcome adversity to eliminate Italians Udinese and reach the group phase of the tournament for the 14th successive year.
Last season, Arsenal and Olympiakos met at this same stage of the competition and the points were shared with the respective sides winning their home encounter (the Gunners 2-0 in London and Olympiakos 1-0 in Greece).