FCBARCELONA.CAT

16.04.2009 11:58

Up against the Premier League again

Vanessa Forns

For the 2nd season running, FCB has reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in the company of three teams from the Premier League. This time Arsenal has taken the place of Liverpool while Chelsea and ManU have reached the last four once again

With the elimination on Wednesday of Porto and Villarreal, FC Barcelona is once again the only alternative in Europe to the English Premier League. Just like last season Barça has joined three English clubs in the CL semi-finals. The only change is that Arsenal has replaced Liverpool.

Similar situation

Last season, Barça fell by a single goal against Manchester United in the semi-finals. The English club went on to win the competition, beating Chelsea on penalties. This time round, Barça has been receiving praise from all sections of the football world and will go into the matches against Chelsea in fine form.

Barça consolidates European presence

This will be Barça’s third CL semi-final in the last four years and confirms the European power of the Club and its style of football. And once again Barça comes up against Chelsea, in what has become one of the classics of European football in recent years.

In fact, Barça and Chelsea have taken part in more European semi-finals during the past ten years than anybody else. Barça has played in five semis in the last decade and won the competition once, in Paris 2006. Chelsea has also accumulated five semi-finals in the last ten years (2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009) but has yet to win the Champions League.