England's power brokers

For the fourth season in a row England will have a club in the UEFA Champions League final after Chelsea FC, Liverpool FC and Manchester United FC all reached the semi-finals this week. Indeed, with three Premier League clubs in the last four for the second successive season there is the very real prospect of a first all-English final at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on 21 May. Although this success may offer proof of the quality of the Premier League, however, it is debatable just how English the country's leading clubs actually are.

'Best by far'
Of the 88 players who started for Arsenal FC, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United over the two legs of the quarter-finals, only 21 – 24 per cent – were English, with just 26 of the total 110 players who featured for those teams available to the new England coach Fabio Capello, who was appointed after the failure to qualify for UEFA EURO 2008™. Furthermore, only three of the 14 goals scored by the four teams in the last eight came from Englishmen. Such matters are of little concern to representatives of the country's three surviving UEFA Champions League contenders, however, who were queuing up to extol the strength of the domestic league in the aftermath of this week's ties. "To have three English teams in the semi-finals is good," said United's French international defender Mikaël Silvestre. "It's proof of the quality of the Premier League; England has the best league in the world at the moment by far."

League strength
Having played in France and Italy, Silvestre is well placed to assess the relative strength of the Premier League, as is his United team-mate Gerard Piqué, a Spanish Under-21 international who spent last season on loan with Real Zaragoza.  "Results are the only guide and the English league has three teams in the semi-finals. Some years ago it was the Spanish league with Valencia, Barcelona, Real Madrid but now the English league is clearly on top," said the 21-year-old, reflecting on the cyclical nature of football. There have been two previous UEFA Champions League finals involving teams from the same nation - Real Madrid CF and Valencia CF in 2000, and AC Milan and Juventus three years later - and reflecting on England's present supremacy, Piqué continued: "Money is one reason as is the style of play. In England the public enjoy going to matches more. But these are trends – a few years ago it was Spain, now England. It changes and I don't think you can compare the leagues too closely."

Regular qualifiers
Another possible reason for the English club's success has been the ever-expanding experience of their players. This week's quarter-finalists are all in the competition for the fourth successive year; in comparison, over the same period Spain have had eight different sides involved in the UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds and group stage, Italy and France seven each and Germany six. With Liverpool reaching the final in 2005 and 2007, and Arsenal finishing runners-up in 2006, the balance of power in the competition has clearly swung in England's favour. "It shows how strong the Premier League is to be that consistent," said United's Michael Carrick. "Liverpool have been very strong in recent years and we had the semi-final last year. It just shows football in this country is getting better and better, and obviously an all-English final would be something special – but we've got plenty of work to do before we can get carried away with that."

'Consistently high level'
Milan playmaker Kaká played a crucial role in ending hopes of an all-English final in 2006/07, scoring three goals as the eventual winners put out United in the last four before overcoming Liverpool in Athens, but he has no doubt where the major force is in European football – although he also expects United's semi-final opponents FC Barcelona to put up a strong fight. "In the last five or six years, English clubs have improved a lot and are now at a consistently high level," he said. "You can't rule out a big club like Barça, though."

EURO disappointment
Observers seem united in the belief that having three semi-finalists reflects well on English football, with Liverpool's 4-2 quarter-final second-leg victory against Arsenal a particularly potent advert for the Premier League. "I hope the game was brilliant; the most important thing is that people enjoyed it," said Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor. "We came here to win and we knew they would go for it as well so that made it an open game. Everyone knows how good the Premier League is and three clubs in the semi-finals is magnificent for the fans and for English football. It's a shame we're not there but good luck to the teams who are left." Fenerbahçe SK's Turkish international striker Kazım Kazım, born in London, offered a slightly different perspective, however, telling uefa.com: "It's great for English football. It's just a shame England didn't qualify for the [UEFA] European Championship."