English clubs in the European Cup

The UEFA Champions League (also known as the European Cup , UCL, CE1, C1 [1] or CL) is a seasonal club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 1955 for the most successful football clubs in Europe. The prize, the European Champion Clubs' Cup, is considered the most prestigious club trophy in the sport.

The European Cup - Various European nations

The European Cup has been won by an Italian team eleven times with three different Italian winners lifting the trophy - AC Milan seven times, Internazionale twice and Juventus twice.

Spain have also won eleven European Cups, with two different winners from Spain managing so far to win Europe's finest prize. The two teams being Real Madrid, with a record breaking nine victories, and Barcelona with two.

England have eleven European Cup wins, and out of that eleven, a record breaking four different teams have won Europe's premier club competition. England have won the European Cup with Manchester United three times (current holders), Liverpool five times, Nottingham Forest twice and Aston Villa once.

The European Cup has also been won by teams from Holland and Germany six times each, Holland winning it with three different teams - Feyenoord once, AFC Ajax four times and PSV Eindhoven once, and Germany also winning it with three different teams - Bayern Munich four times, Hamburg once and Borussia Dortmund once.

Portugal have won the European Cup four times with two different winners, those teams being with two European Cups each - Benfica and Porto.

Several other nations have a single success in the competition. These are Scotland with Celtic, Romania with Steaua Bucharest, Yugoslavia (now Serbia) with Red Star Belgrade and France with Marseille. Marseille were stripped of their French league championship of the same year due to financial irregularities and a match fixing scandal, but were not stripped of their Champions League title.

Whilst no nation has yet managed to win back-to-back titles in the Champion's League era, several periods of dominance have occurred since the tournament began. Real Madrid kept the European Cup in Spain from 1956 up until 1961 when Benfica beat Barcelona 3-2 in the final. Dutch teams retained the title for four successive years in the early seventies with three successive Italian wins and three successive German wins in the years before and after this period. The longest run of retentions came when English teams won the Cup for a record breaking six successive years between the 1977 and 1982 finals, with three different English teams winning the competition in this time.

English clubs in The European Cup - Before the ban 1983-1985

In 1983, England's excellent run ended when Hamburg beat Juventus in the final 1-0. In 1983 both Liverpool and Aston Villa went out at the quarter finals stage. Liverpool were beaten 4-3 over the 2 legs by Widzew Lodz of Poland and Aston Villa were beaten over the 2 legs 5-2 by the eventual runners-up Juventus.

In 1984, it was business as usual for England, when Liverpool beat Roma 4-2 on penalties after the score had finished 1-1 AET.

In 1985, Liverpool again made it to the final, but lost out 1-0 to Juventus, Michel Platini scored a second half penalty, that of course being enough to win them the game. 1985 of course was the year of the Heysel Stadium disaster, which of course led to all English clubs being banned from the European Cup.

The return of the English

In the 1991/92 season, Arsenal were the first team to represent England in the European Cup after English teams were allowed back in. Arsenal lost out over 2 legs in the second round to Benfica.

The UEFA Champions League 1993-2007

1993/94

The 1993/94 season was the return of Manchester United. In the first round, Manchester United beat Budapest Honved of Hungary 5-3 over two legs, but in the second round were held both home and away by Galatasaray, 3-3 and 0-0, but unfortunately for Manchester United the 3-3 was at Old Trafford and Galatasaray went through to the group stage on the away goals rule.

1994/95

In 1994/95, instead of having a round one, the groups were introduced, with the top 2 teams from 4 groups making it through to the quarter-finals. Manchester United in 1994/95 finished 3rd in the group, but only losing out on goal difference to Barcelona, but at least this time getting the better of Galatasaray 4-0 over 2 legs.

1995/96

In 1995/96, it was Blackburn Rovers who went on to represent England, and even though Blackburn may have been the Champions of England at that time, this for Blackburn was a first and they just didn't have enough experience at such a high level. Blackburn managed to win one game. at home against Rosenborg of Norway 4-1, but it was too little too late.

1996/97

In 1996/97, Manchester United were back to representing England, and almost went on to win the whole tournament in 1997, but in the semi-finals lost out to the eventual winners Borussia Dortmund, losing both games home and away 1-0. Borussia Dortmund won the tie 2-0 over both legs.

1997/98

In 1997/98, it was both Manchester United and Newcastle United who represented England. Newcastle had won their qualifying round 4-3 against Zagreb of Croatia. The second leg finished 2-2 AET, sending Newcastle through to the Champions League proper. Manchester United were in Group B and Newcastle were in Group C. Manchester United finished as group winners, but Newcastle, like Blackburn, had no experience at such a high level and failed to make it out of the group. In 1997/98, it was the winners and best runner-up that made it through to the quarter-finals. Manchester United eventually went out to Monaco of France after drawing both games, but like in 1993/94, Manchester United went out on the away goals rule.

1998/99

In 1998/99, it was Arsenal who gained automatic entry into the Champions League after winning the Premiership title in the 1997/98 season. Manchester United also made it through after beating Polish side Lodz 2-0 over the 2 legs in the qualifying round. Manchester United were in Group D AKA "The Group of Death" and Arsenal were in Group E. Manchester United finished as runners-up in the group, although they did not lose a game, but drew 4. Manchester United at home against Barcelona finished 3-3 and the return game at the Nou Camp also finished 3-3. Manchester United also drew both games away and at home against Bayern Munich 2-2 and 1-1 respectively. Arsenal unlike Blackburn and Newcastle had been in the European Cup 7 years earlier, but under Arsene Wenger this was the first time that Arsenal had played Champions League football. Arsenal finished the group in 3rd place, in fact finishing the group on 8pts, just as Lens did, but Lens went through as the runners-up on head-to-head games after scoring more goals. In the quarter-finals, Manchester United went on to face Inter Milan, Manchester United as runners-up facing Inter Milan as group winners, but Manchester United for Inter Milan over the two legs were just too good, winning the tie 3-1. In the semi-final, Manchester United would face yet another Italian team in Juventus. The first leg at Old Trafford was drawn 1-1 and the second leg away was by many fancied to be won by Juventus, as Manchester United had a so called mountain to climb. Manchester United did have a mountain to climb at the start of play after giving away an away goal to the Italians in the first leg at Old Trafford, but even more so after Juventus went 2-0 up, putting the score 3-1 on aggregate, but Manchester United came back against all the odds to score 3 goals, sending them through to the final 4-3 winners over both legs. In the final, Manchester United faced Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich who had not won a European Cup for 23 years, although Bayern had made 2 final appearances since winning the European Cup last in 1976, losing both games by the odd goal to English and Portuguese opposition respectively. Bayern Munich wanted this, maybe not more, but just as much as Manchester United did, and neither team was going to give up the chance of becoming European Champions again without a fight. Manchester United were on for an historic treble, and Bayern Munich had not won what they had won 3 years running for over 20 years, losing out in 2 finals also, one being to English opposition. Bayern Munich wanted it just as much. Bayern Munich took the lead in this game, a lead that they would hold onto until the 90th minute. 3 minutes of added time was given and Manchester made it 1-1 not long after added time when David Beckham put the ball in from a corner, and the ball was put in the back of the net by Teddy Sheringham. Manchester United were level at 1-1, but more with so little time of normal time left was to follow. David Beckham put the ball in from another corner, this time it was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who put the ball in to the back of the Germans net. Manchester United had won the greatest final, not just in living memory, but ever. In 1998/99, the road to the final was far from easy - Bayern Munich and Barcelona in the group, Inter Milan in the quarter-finals, Juventus in the semi-finals and again in the final, Bayern Munich! The only thing that really separated Manchester United and Bayern Munich throughout the tournament was that Bayern had managed to beat Barcelona in the group stage of the competition home and away, whereas Manchester United could only draw, but put 6 goals past them to Bayerns 3.

1999/2000

In 1999/00, Manchester United were the defending champions, and the team that everyone throughout Europe feared more than any other, and also the first time that 3 English teams had participated in the same season, Chelsea being the new boys. Arsenal had finished as runners-up in the Premiership in the 1998/99 season, but automatic places now went to both the winner and runners-up. Chelsea had beaten Skonto of Latvia in the qualifying round 3-0 over the 2 legs. Arsenal were in Group B, Manchester United were in Group D and Chelsea were in Group H. Arsenal yet again failed to make it out of the group, winning 2, drawing 2 and losing 2. Manchester United won 4, drew 1 and lost 1. The game lost was 1-0 away against Marseille. Manchester United won Group D by 3 points. Chelsea may have been inexperienced at this level, although they had won the Cup Winners Cup in 1998, but the Champions League was new to them, but unlike teams such as Arsenal, Blackburn and Newcastle, Chelsea did manage to make it out of the group, but not just out of it, Chelsea won the group and won the group with only 1 game lost. In the second group stage, both Manchester United and Chelsea again made it out. Manchester United won their group, and Chelsea finished runners-up in theirs to Lazio. In the quarter-finals, Manchester United went to the Bernabeu, but failed to score, although Andy Cole had put the ball in the back of the net, but was ruled offside. Real Madrid also failed to score, meaning the return leg would start 0-0, just as the first leg had done. In the return leg at Old Trafford, Roy Keane put Real Madrid up in the first half after scoring an own goal, and then Raul, in the second half scored 2 in close succession. Real Madrid were 0-3 up away from home. After 60 minutes David Beckham made the score 1-3, and then before the 90 Paul Scholes converted a penlty to bring the score back to 2-3. Manchester United again needed to score 2 goals in added time. Unfortunately for Manchester United, the goals did not come and the reigning European champions were defeated. Chelsea in the quarter-finals faced a strongly fancied Barcelona side, and were 3-0 up in the first leg before the second half, but in the second half Luis Figo made the score 3-1 and Barcelona had their away goal. In the return leg at the Nou Camp, Barcelona were this time the team to be 3-0 up after 60 minutes, but just as Barcelona had done in the first leg, Tore Andre Flo made the score 3-1 after 60 minutes. The game eventually went into extra-time, but Barcelona were just too strong for Chelsea in this period and went on to win the game 5-1.

2000/01

In 2000/01, Manchester United, Arsenal and Leeds United all represented England. Manchester United and Arsenal gained entry through being the winners and runners-up in the Premiership, and Leeds had won a qualifying round game against 1860 Munich of Germany 3-1 over two legs. Arsenal were in Group B, Manchester United in Group G and Leeds were in Group H. Arsenal for the first time ever had made it out of the group, Arsenal also being the only team from England that season to win their group. Manchester United and Leeds both finished as runners-up in their groups. In the second group stage of the competition, just like in the first group stage, all 3 of England's clubs were successful in making it out, although this time none of the English teams finished as group winners, but it was Leeds who were the only team out of 3 to win their quarter-final match over the two legs. Manchester United lost out to the eventual winners Bayern Munich 3-1 over the two legs, and Arsenal lost out to the eventual runners-up Valencia. Arsenal had beaten Valencia 2-1 at Highbury, but lost out 1-0 away, that meaning that Valencia were the team going through on the away goals rule. Leeds United won their quarter-final match against Deportivo de La Coruna 3-2 over the 2 legs, 3-0 win at home and lost 2-0 away. In the semi-finals, Leeds came up against the team that had knocked out Arsenal in the quarters (Valencia), but for Leeds who had done England proud, Valencia were just too strong and beat them 3-0 over the two legs, the first game had finished 0-0.

2001/02

In 2001/02, it was the Return of Liverpool to Europe's finest stage after being absent since they last participated in 1985. The other 2 English teams were Manchester United and Arsenal. Manchester United and Arsenal went through as winners and runners-up respectively, and Liverpool had finished the prior season in 3rd place in the Premiership. Liverpool won their qualifying round game against Haka of Finland 9-1 over two legs. Liverpool were in group B, Arsenal were in Group C and Manchester United were in Group G. All 3 English teams made it out of the first group, but only Liverpool winning their group, unbeaten too. In the second group stage, Manchester United and Liverpool were the teams to make it out of the group, this time Manchester United winning their group unbeaten and Liverpool being runners-up in theirs to Barcelona. Arsenal were knocked out after finishing the group in third place. Bayer Leverkusen won Arsenal's group, and Deportivo de La Coruna finished as runners-up. Arsenal didn't lose a game in the group against Bayer Leverkusen, but Bayer Leverkusen loved playing English teams that season. In the quarter-finals, Bayer Leverkusen defeated liverpool over two legs 4-3, but Manchester United went through over the two legs against Deportivo de La Coruna 5-2. Deportivo de La Corua had got the better of Manchester United 5-3 at the first group stage over 2 games, but it wasn't going to happen again. In the semi-finals, Manchester United faced the same team that had knocked out Liverpool in the quarters (Bayer Leverkusen). Manchester United didn't lose a game against Bayer Leverkusen, but yet again Manchester United were knocked out on the away goals rule 3-3 over the two legs, also the second time in 5 years that they had lost out in the last 4 of the tournament to German opposition, and of course preventing Sir Alex Ferguson from having his dream final in Glasgow, a dream final in the season which was believed to be his last. It of course wasn't though.

2002/03

In 2002/03, Manchester United had finished in 3rd place in the Premiership the season prior for the first time since it began, that of course meaning that Manchester United had to go through the qualifying rounds again, but it wasn't a problem, Manchester United won 5-1 over the two legs against Hungarian side Zalaegerszegi. The 2002/03 season was the first time that 4 English clubs had been allowed to participate, the 4th team being Newcastle United who had finished the season prior in 4th place, and were back in the Champions League for the first time in 5 long years. Newcastle won their qualifying round game over the two legs 5-0 against Zeljeznicar (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The 2 teams from England who had won automatic places in the Champions League were - Arsenal as league winners and Liverpool as runners-up. Arsenal were in Group A, Liverpool were in Group B, Newcastle were in Group E and Manchester United were in Group F. Arsenal yet again, and after before not being able to make it our of the group had made it out of the group for the third year running. Even though Arsenal had lost 2 games, Arsenal won their group after scoring more goals over the two games against the 1997 winners Borussia Dortmund. Liverpool, the 2001/02 Premiership runners-up failed to make it out of their group after finishing in third place. Newcastle lost their first 3 games in the first group, but won the next 3 against all 3 of the teams that had beaten them earlier in the group - Juventus 1-0, Dynamo Kyiv 2-1 and Feyenoord away 2-3. Newcastle had to do it the hard way, but even so, they did. Manchester United were drawn against Bayer Leverkusen in the group, just has they had been drawn against Bayern Munich at the second group stage in the 2001/02 season. This time Manchester United beat Bayer Leverkusen, away and at home 1-2 and 2-0 respectively. Manchester United won the group with 15 points. In the second group stage, both Newcastle and Arsenal finished in third place, meaning of course that both would play no further part. Manchester United again won their group, this time with 13 points, winning both the home and away games against the eventual runners-up Juventus 2-1 and 0-3 respectively. In the quarter-finals, Manchester United went to the Bernabeu, losing there 3-1, but the return leg at Old Trafford was won by Manchester United 4-3, but at the end of the 90 minutes it was Real Madrid who went through to the semi-finals, winning the tie 6-5 on aggregate. The quarter-final match at Old Trafford against Real Madird was one of the greatest games to ever be played in the Champions League, and what made it even more special was the fact that the Old Trafford Faithful stood up and applauded when Ronaldo scored his hat-trick as though he had scored the 3 goals for them and sent them through to not the semi-final, but the final itself. The clowns at the Theatre of Screams clapped like seals after having received another European lesson.

2003/04

In 2003/04, Manchester United and Arsenal gained automatic entry through to the Champions League, and Newcastle and Chelsea had finished 3rd and 4th respectively in the Premiership, hence both would get a chance of making the Champions League proper through the qualifying round. Qualifying was not a problem for Chelsea, they beat MSK Zilina of Slovakia 5-0 over two legs, but Newcastle had underestimated their opposition, their opposition being FK Partizan of Serbia, (formerly Yugoslavia). FK Partizan were runners-up in the European Cup to Real Madrid in 1966. Partizan may not have been the best club in the world, but also were not the worst, and Newcastle underestimated them. Partizan went through to the Champions League proper after knocking out Newcastle in a penalty shootout after the tie ended 1-1. Arsenal were in Group B, Manchester United were in Group E and Chelsea were in Group G. All 3 of the English teams won their groups - Manchester United with 15 points, Chelsea with 13 points and Arsenal with 10 points. In 2003/04, the second group stage had been scrapped and returned to having just one group for the first time since 1998/99. At the knockout stages, Chelsea went through to the quarter-finals after beating Stuttgart 1-0 over two legs, Arsenal went through after beating Celta Vigo 5-2 over two legs and Manchester United were yet again beaten by the eventual winners, this time it being Porto. Porto won over two legs 3-2, but in that second game Paul Scholes had scored a goal that was ruled offside, but replays later confirmed that in fact Paul Scholes was onside. In the quarter-finals, Chelsea and Arsenal were to meet. The first leg had finished even at 1-1, but in the second leg it was Chelsea who prevailed just before the 90 when Eidur Gudjohnsen made the score 3-2 to Chelsea on aggregate. In the semi-finals, Chelsea came up against eventual runners-up Monaco of France, but over the two legs Monaco were just too strong for the Stamford Bridge club, winning the tie 5-3.

2004/05

In 2004/05, Arsenal and Chelsea gained automatic entry through to the competition after they had finished as winners and runners-up the league season prior. Manchester United and Liverpool were the teams who had to win their places in the Champions League proper through the qualifying round. Liverpool over the two legs beat Austrian side Grazer AK 2-1 and Manchester United defeated one of the three Romanian capital teams - Dinamo Bucharest 5-1 over the two legs. In the Champions League proper, Liverpool were in Group A, Manchester United were in Group D, Arsenal were in Group E and Chelsea were in Group H. All 4 of England's teams made it out of the group, Liverpool and Manchester United as runners-up, and Arsenal and Chelsea as group winners. In the second round, Liverpool beat Group B winners Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 home and away, winning the tie 6-2 on aggregate, Arsenal lost to Bayern Munich 3-2 on aggregate, Chelsea put out Barcelona 5-4 over two excellent games and Manchester United kept the run going of either losing to the eventual winners or runners-up of the tournament. Manchester United were beaten by AC Milan 2-0 on aggregate, losing both games home and away 1-0. In the quarter-finals, Liverpool came up against Juventus, winning the home leg 2-1 and finishing the second leg goalless at 0-0. Chelsea in the last 8 came up against the team that had knocked out Arsenal (Bayern Munich). Chelsea won the home leg 4-2 and lost the away leg 3-2, but it was Chelsea who went through to the semi-finals 6-5 on aggregate. In the semi-finals, two English clubs were drawn against each other for the first time in the history of the European Cup/Champions League. The two clubs being - Liverpool and Chelsea. The first leg at Stamford Bridge had finished goalless and the second leg was won by Liverpool 1-0. A goal from Luis Garcia in the 4th minute of the game was enough to send Liverpool through to their 6th final in 28 years, and first in 20. The Garcia goal was a controversial goal, did it or didn't it cross the line? IT DIDN'T cross the line, that has since been proved, nevertheless the goal was given. Jose Mourinho afterwards said - "The linesman scored the goal. No-one knows if that shot went over the line and you must be 100%." "It was a goal that came from the moon - from the Anfield stands." "They are in the final and from my heart I hope they win it. The night belongs to them and I don't want to criticise them." Liverpool were in the final, and yet again it was against Italian opposition. AC Milan went 1-0 up in the first minute of the game through Paolo Maldini, and then before the end of the first half, on loan from Chelsea striker Hernan Crespo scored 2 goals 5 minutes apart to put the Italians 3-0 up going into the second half. "Football is a game of two halves, not one, and even though half number 1 May have belonged to Milan, number 2 was to belong to the men in red from Liverpool." Almost 10 minutes were played and still no score, the entire Liverpool team were looking like they had lost all hope, playing now for honour and trying to keep the score at least respectable, but there was one man, one man that still believed, one who that had not lost all hope and one man that would restore to the other 10 players that was still in-store within him - Steven Gerrard was that man. In the 54th minute of the game, Gerrard made the score 3-1, and now with just under 40 minutes of normal time to go, Liverpool needed to score at least 2, but had 40 minutes to do it - Hope was restored. 2 minutes after Gerrard's goal, Vladimir Smicer made the score 3-2, and still over 30 minutes of normal time to play. In the 60th minute Liverpool were awarded a penalty for a foul by Gennaro Gattuso on Steven Gerrard, the penalty was taken and Dida saved, but Xabi Alonso was able to get hold of the loose ball and put it past a helpless Dida. Liverpool had scored 3 goals in 6 minutes - AC Milan 3 Liverpool 3. The next 30 minutes saw no change in the score, therefore the final went into extra-time. In extra-time, Milan looked more likely to score than Liverpool did, and with about 2 minutes left Dudek produced an excellent double save from Shevchenko, sending the final into a penalty shootout. In the penalty shootout, Serginho put Milan's first over the bar, and then their second was taken by Andrea Pirlo and saved by Jerzy Dudek. Shevchenko - the man who had scored Milan's winner in 2003 in the shootout against Juventus - stepped up to take what if missed or saved would win the tournament for Liverpool in such dramatic fashion. Shevchenko was denied, and at the same time so were AC Milan - Liverpool were Champions of Europe for the 5th time in their history - hence the European Cup was theirs to keep forever. Liverpool won the shootout 3-2.

2005/06

In 2005/06, Liverpool had finished in 5th place in the league the season they had won the tournament, Everton has finished in 4th and Manchester United had finished in 3rd. With Liverpool finishing 5th in the league, it wasn't known at first whether or not they would get a chance to defend their title, but it was decided that Liverpool would be allowed to enter at the first qualifying round stage in place of one of the other lower ranked UEFA teams. Liverpool were drawn against Total Network Solutions of Wales, now known as of 2006, The New Saints or just TNS. An interesting fact about TNS is that the club represents Powys of Wales and Oswestry, which is in Shropshire (England). The two places are 8 miles apart. Liverpool won the tie 6-0 over two legs. In the second qualifying round, Liverpool came up against Kaunas, the champions of Lithuania, but just as they had been for TNS, Liverpool were just too strong for the Lithuanian champions, winning the tie 5-1. The third qualifying round saw 3 of England's teams playing to win their places in the Champions League proper - Manchester United, Everton and of course Liverpool. Manchester United over two legs put out Debrecen of Hungary, winning the tie 6-0 after two 3-0 victories, Everton were defeated by Villarreal over two legs 4-2, losing both legs 2-1 and Liverpool made it through to the Champions League proper after by one goal beating Bulgarian champions CSKA Sofia 3-2 over both legs of the tie. The season Liverpool won the Champions League, but lost out to Everton in the league for that last Champions League place, Everton were at the time so confident that Merseyside would have not 2, but just 1 of its teams in the Champions League proper, they were right too, but who can blame them? Liverpool would have the last laugh though. Everton only had to win 1 tie, and Liverpool had to win 3, Everton were defeated by Villarreal, relegating them to the UEFA Cup. You could say about Everton though that it was 20 years too late, because Everton would have be strong favourites in 1986 to win the European Cup, but after the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985, all English clubs were banned from Europe. Chelsea and Arsenal were the two automatic entrants into the 2005/06 season of the Champions League. In the Champions League proper, Arsenal were in Group B, Manchester United were in Group D and Liverpool and Chelsea were together in Group G. Liverpool and Chelsea found themselves together, because Liverpool had taken the place of one of the lower ranked UEFA teams, therefore it was possible that Liverpool may find themselves in the same group as one of their fellow country teams. For some reason many expected that Liverpool and Chelsea would find themselves together. In Group B, Arsenal were unbeaten, winning it with a total of 16 points, Manchester United for the first time since the 1994/95 season had failed to make it out of the group, but not even a UEFA Cup place, as Manchester United finished rock bottom. Manchester United played 6, won 1, drew 3, lost 2, had 3 for and 4 against. It was the final game away against Benfica that put Manchester United out, even a draw would have been enough to put Manchester United through, but Benfica won the match 2-1. In Group G, Liverpool and Chelsea finished as winners and runners-up respectively, drawing both their games against each other home and away 0-0. In the second round, Chelsea came up against Barcelona again, and this time Barcelona wanted revenge for the season prior at this stage of the tournament when Chelsea had beaten them 5-4 on aggregate. Barcelona won the tie 3-2 over two legs. Arsenal went to the Bernabeu where they would face the 9 times winners Real Madrid. Arsenal won the first leg at the Bernabeu 0-1 after a goal early on in the second half from Thierry Henry. The defending champions Liverpool, were put out 3-0 by Benfica over both legs. Benfica scored a late goal in Portugal to win the game 1-0, and then in the return leg at Anfield they won 0-2 with a goal in both halves. At the quarter-finals stage, Arsenal were the only English club left in the competition, and before 2006 had never gone past the quarter-finals stage, but Arsenal were to change all that. Arsenal playing one of their last European games at Highbury were hosts to Juventus, winning the game 2-0 with a goal a piece for Fabregas and Henry. The second leg in Italy was drawn 0-0 and Arsenal were through to their first ever semi-final of the competition. In the semi-finals, Arsenal played their very last European game at Highbury against Villarreal, winning the game 1-0 with a goal late on in the first half from Kolo Toure. The second was drawn 0-0, but nevertheless, a 0-0 that won't be forgotten. Villarreal could have won the match 4-0 if it wasn't for some pretty poor finishing and Jens Lehmann, and the penalty Lehman saved wasn't even one of the 4 that Villarreal could have scored, that's just a 5th they could have. Just before the 90, Clichy had given away a penalty, and it was Riquelme who stepped up, but even he couldn't beat Lehmann. Villarreal had done well to come so far and so close, and to say that they only have a population of under 50,000 is incredible. Arsenal had won the tie 1-0, Kolo Toure's goal in the first leg at Highbury being enough to send the North London side through to their first ever UEFA Champions League final. The final against Barcelona wasn't the best of finals, Campbell had put Arsenal up going into the second half, and the 1-0 lead was a lead they would hold on to up until the 76th minute when Samuel Eto'o put Barcelona back on level terms, and just 5 minutes later with only just under 10 minutes of the 90 to play, Barca scored again, this time the goal scorer being the Brazilian substitute "with the Italian passport" right back Belletti. Arsenal had come so far, and almost, almost won the tournament, but it was inevitable that Barcelona would score at least 1, but it wasn't 1, but 2 that they scored and of course 2 was all that they needed to score (just as long as Arsenal didn't reply), to take the NEW Champions League trophy back with them to the New field (Nou Camp) Barcelona had won the Champions League for the first time in their history, but the 2006 win goes down as their second title, and 14 years apart from one another.

2006/07

In 2006/07, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal, it was a shame that that wasn't how the semi-finals looked, although it wouldn't have been possible anyway. Chelsea and Manchester United were the league winners and runners-up, and Liverpool and Arsenal were the teams that had finished in 3rd and 4th, Arsenal doing it on the last day of the season after Tottenham had lost the chance to steal 4th place from them. In the qualifying round, Arsenal came up against a Dinamo Zagreb side that had won their second qualifying round game 8-1 over two legs against Latvian side Liepajas Metalurgs, but Arsenal were the 2006 runners-up, and even though Zagreb must have been feeling good about themselves after winning their second round tie 8-1, but at the end of the day it was a 9 year old Latvian club with little experience, but still you can't take anything away from Zagreb. Arsenal for Zagreb were just too strong, winning the tie 5-1. Liverpool faced Maccabi Haifa of Israel, and made it through after a narrow 3-2 victory. Chelsea were in Group A, Liverpool were in Group C, Manchester United were in Group F and Arsenal Group G. All 4 of England's teams were winners in their respective groups. Just to add, Manchester United had put the past year and Benfica behind them. In the second round (Round of 16), Chelsea and Jose Mourinho put out his old club Porto, winning the tie 3-2, Manchester United won both legs against Lille 1-0, winning the tie 2-0 overall, the 2006 runners-up Arsenal were put out by PSV Eindhoven, PSV won the tie 2-1. Liverpool finished their tie all square at 2-2 against the 2006 winners Barcelona, but Liverpool went through to the last 8 on the away goals rule. The 2006 finalists had both fallen at the first knockout round stage. In the quarter-finals, Liverpool over two legs were 4-0 victors against PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United in tremendous fashion put out Roma, winning the tie 8-3. Manchester United were beat away against Roma 2-1, but completely destroyed them in the return leg at Old Trafford, winning 7-1 in yet another example of being flat track bullies against mediocre opposition at The Theatre of Screams. Chelsea were the 3rd and final English team to make the last 4, putting 3 English clubs through to the last 4 for the first time in the entire history of the European Cup/Champions League. In the semi-finals, Chelsea and Liverpool yet again for the second time in 3 years met at the last 4 stage of the competition, the tie was drawn 1-1, 1-1 after both sides had managed 1-0 victories in either leg, but yet again it was Liverpool who would Triumph over Jose Mourinho's Chelsea. Liverpool won the tie 4-1 on penalties. Manchester United would again face Italian opposition at the last 4 stage for the second time in 8 years, but this time it was the Italians and Carlo Ancelotti who would be victorious. The first leg was won by Manchester United 3-2 in another great game at Old Trafford, but in the second leg Milan had 2 away goals, Manchester United on the night were embarrassed in their first match against genuine top class opposition. On that night Milan were just too strong and won the game 3-0, winning the tie 5-3. In the final, AC Milan had the chance to avenge the defeat they had suffered at the hands of Liverpool just 2 years prior, and also Carlo Ancelotti, Carlo Ancelotti who had been manager of Juventus in 1999 when Manchester United defeated them in the semi-finals. Ancelotti almost had full revenge on Ferguson and United, but would have to win the final game against Liverpool for revenge to be fulfilled, also revenge on Liverpool and Rafael Benitez for 2005. It was Milan who went 1-0 up, 1-0 on 45 minutes with a goal from Filippo Inzaghi. At the start of the first half the score was 1-0, and remained 1-0 up until the 82nd minute when Milan and Inzaghi scored a second - 2-0 AC Milan, but Milan knew that it was never going to be over until it actually was over. Just before the 90, Dirk Kuyt made the score 2-1, Milan must have been terrified, but kept their cool and alls Kuyt's goal turned out to be was nothing more than a consolation. AC Milan had won their 7th European crown, putting them only 2 behind Real Madrid with 9. In 2001, Bayern Munich had beaten Manchester United in the last 8 of the competition, but revenge was only half done, Bayern had to win the whole tournament if they wanted perfect vengeance. Perfect vengeance is what Bayern got, but in 2007 it was Carlo Ancelotti who got perfect vengeance, perfect vengeance on both Sir Alex Ferguson (1999) and Rafael Benitez (2005).

ee also

* List of British footballers who have scored in a European Cup Final