Champions League: Unique year as three English sides reach semis

Ozren Podnar

For the first time in history there will be three clubs from the same country in both European club competitions. While the Champions' League has been "invaded" by the English (Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United), the UEFA Cup is speaking Spanish (Sevilla, Osasuna and Espanyol).

In the Champions' League, such an occurrence has happened only twice before: in 2000 the semifinals were taken over by Spanish teams (Real Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona) and in 2003 the limelight was on the Italians (Milan, Juventus and Inter).

The magnificent English display in the premier competition means that at least one Premier League club will represent England in the finals, either Chelsea or Liverpool. Manchester United is the other Premiership option, if they can overcome a far tougher opposition than a defensively poor Roma in the quarterfinals.

In Milan, the Red Devils will find a rival with a better European record than their own - six time European champions and seven time finalists over the last 18 years.

Chelsea will have a chance of getting even with Liverpool for an unjust elimination at the same stage two years ago, when a single goal divided the teams after 180 minutes.

The current UEFA Cup experiences a similar one-nation domination as in the Champions' League. This time Spain is the country that provides three quarters of the semi-final contingent: the holders Sevilla, the 1988 finalists Espanyol and the minnows Osasuna.

This will be the fourth time that there are three or more teams from the same country in the semis, and every time the clubs involved were German: in 1979 (Borussia M'gladbach, Hertha and MSV Duisburg), 1980 (Eintracht, Borussia M'gladbach, Bayern and Stuttgart) and 1989 (Stuttgart, Bayern and Dynamo Dresden). To be specific, Dynamo were an East German team in 1989, but the two Germanys were united a mere six months afterwards).

The highest scores in European Cups

Manchester United's 7-1 drubbing of Roma was the most extraordinary moment in this year's competition, especially as an Italian side was on the receiving end, although Roma are more offensive-minded than the rest of the bunch.

Huge wins between giants and minnows are frequent, but it is the big score lines between teams of equal or similar stature that create the most memorable events. Here is the top-20 of unusual and unexpectedly convincing defeats of renowned teams by opponents inspired on the day. Notice that Manchester Utd.'s 10-0 thrashing of Anderlecht in the fifties is not included since the Belgians were far from their prime 50 years ago.

# Key: C1 - Champion's League/Cup, C2 - Cup Winners' Cup, C3 - UEFA/Fairs' Cup

Champions' League Quarterfinals

1st Leg 2nd Leg

Chelsea - Valencia 1-1 2-1
PSV - Liverpool 0-3 0-1
Roma - Manchester Utd. 2-1 1-7
Milan - Bayern 2-2 2-0

Semifinals

Manchester Utd - Milan (April 24th)

Previous rounds:

Manchester Utd

1st Leg 2nd Leg

Lille 1-0 1-0
Roma 1-2 7-1

Milan

1st Leg 2nd Leg

Celtic 0-0 1-0
Bayern 2-2 2-0

Liverpool - Chelsea (April 25th)

Previous rounds:

Liverpool

1st Leg 2nd Leg

Barcelona 2-1 0-1
PSV Eindhoven 3-0 1-0

Chelsea

1st Leg 2nd Leg

Porto 1-1 2-1
Valencia 1-1 2-1

UEFA Cup quarterfinals

1st Leg 2nd Leg

Espanyol - Benfica 3-2 0-0
AZ Alkmaar - Werder 0-0 1-4
Bayer Lev. - Osasuna 0-3 0-1
Sevilla - Tottenham 2-1 2-2

Semifinals

Espanyol - Werder (April 26th)

Espanyol

1st Leg 2nd Leg

Livorno 2-1 2-0
Maccabi Haifa 0-0 4-0
Benfica 3-2 0-0

Werder

1st Leg 2nd Leg

Ajax 3-0 1-3
Celta 1-0 2-0
AZ Alkmaar 0-0 4-1

Osasuna - Sevilla (April 26th)

Osasuna

1st Leg 2nd Leg

Bordeaux 0-0 1-0
Rangers 1-1 1-0
Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 1-0

Sevilla

1st Leg 2nd Leg

Steaua 2-0 1-0
Shakthar 2-2 3-2
Tottenham 2-1 2-2

Ozren Podnar

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