H is for...

As uefa.com Action's A to Z countdown to the UEFA Champions League final on 25 May continues, it is time for some great Gs.

Thierry Henry is a goalscorer par excellence who has not looked back since Arsenal FC paid Juventus FC €17m for his services in the summer of 1999. The extra responsibility which came with being converted from a wide player into a central striker has seen him mature into one of the game's most-feared hitmen.

Henry first made his mark with AS Monaco FC helping them to the Champions League semi-final in 1998. He joined Juventus for a significant fee but failed to settle in Italy and seven months later was on his way to Highbury to replace Nicholas Anelka.

The Frenchman made a name for himself as an integral part of Arsène Wenger's side. In 2001 he collected both English footballer of the year awards and an FA Cup winners medal, and last season he scored thirty goals in Arsenal's Championship winning team and another five in the Champions League.

He also managed five in this seasons European campaign, but his goal at Highbury in the first knockout round against FC Bayern München was not enough to overturn the first leg deficit as Arsenal went out to leave Henry still searching for European glory with his club

This season has been a good one for Champions League hat-tricks - between Matchdays 1 and 10 there have been seven of them, starting with Roy Makaay's treble in a 4-0 Matchday 2 win against AFC Ajax, and followed by Wayne Rooney's on his United debut in a 6-2 win against Fenerbahçe SK.

Next, Werder Bremen's Ivan Klasnic wrote his name into the stats books with three well taken goals in a 5-1 win over Anderlecht before PFC CSKA Moskva's Sergei Semak signalled his side's exit from the competition with a hat-trick in a 3-1 win at Paris Saint-Germain FC.

On Matchday 6 United, already qualified, were on the receiving end of some fine finishing from Tuncay Sanli as they went down three-nil to Fenerbahçe, while Olympique Lyonnais started the knockout stage in style with a 10-2 aggregate win against Bremen, with Sylvain Wiltord scoring a hat-trick.

FC Internazionale Milano's Brazilian striker Adriano also scored a hat-trick in the last 16 ties against FC Porto, but the quarter-finals proved to be a hat-trick free zone.

Finally, another mighty H. Fernando Hierro was the highly influential captain of Spain and Real Madrid CF for a decade after he joined the Spanish giants in 1989 from Real Valladolid. An imposing presence, either at centre half or in midfield, he led the Spanish giants to domestic and global glory.

He had the distinction of winning three Champions League winners medals with Madrid, the first in 1998 following victory against Juventus FC. He also picked up a winners medal even though he was on the bench in 1999/00 final against Valencia CF.

His finest moment came when he won his third medal - this time as captain - and had the honour of lifting the trophy against Beyer 04 Leverkusen at Hampden Park in 2001/02. Now at 37 Hierro is seeing out his career with Bolton Wanderers FC in the English Premiership.