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Tuesday Trivia is a weekly column that presents relevant sporting facts. This week's edition tackles the theme of brotherly conflict in Europe's premier club competition.
All-country clashes in the Champions League are a fairly recent phenomenon. In fact, they were not even on the table until the 1997/98 season, which marked the first time that league runners-up were admitted into the competition. In the old European Cup format, only league champions played in the competition, and it was a much more streamlined format with straight knockouts.
This season has witnessed the resurgence of Serie A sides in the Champions League, with AC Milan, Napoli and Inter in the last eight. With all three on one side of the bracket, the former two facing off tonight and the latter in a strong position to progress against Benfica, we are all but guaranteed a second all-Italy tie in the semi-finals.
Here is a walk through the history of all-country meetings in Europe's premier competition.
- Germany – With Borussia Dortmund winning in 1997, and Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen finishing first and second respectively in the Bundesliga, in 1997/98 Germany became the first country to have three representatives in the same edition of the Champions League. Unsurprisingly then, this led to the competition’s first all-country clash, with Dortmund defeating Bayern 1-0 on aggregate in the last eight. However, even the following season, despite having two entrants, Germany once again produced an all-country tie, with Bayern destroying shock 1998 Bundesliga champions Kaiserslautern 6-0 on aggregate.
- 2000 – For the first time, this year’s edition featured two all-country meetings. Valencia faced and eliminated Barcelona 5-3 on aggregate in the semi-finals, setting up a meeting with Real Madrid in the final, which they lost 3-0 in Paris.
- El Clasico – In 2001/02, we got the first-ever Champions League El Clasico. Real Madrid, fresh from overcoming their nemesis and reigning champions Bayern Munich, took out Barcelona 3-1 on aggregate.
- 2003 – For the second time in four seasons, three teams from the same country reached the semi-finals. While, in 2001, it was Spain with three representatives, this time it was Italy. AC Milan overcame city rivals Inter on away goals, before defeating Juventus on penalty kicks in one of the more forgettable finals of the century.
- England – England finally got its first Champions League tie between two of its representatives in 2004, with Chelsea facing off against Arsenal. The Blues won the tie, stunning Highbury with a late Wayne Bridge winner to eliminate the Gunners.
- Madonnina – The quarter-final meeting between Milan clubs in 2005 was the first repeat all-country tie in Champions League history. Once more, AC Milan prevailed over their city rivals in Europe, hammering them 5-0 in a tie best remembered for Rossoneri goalkeeper Dida getting struck by a flare.
- 2007/2008 – This season witnessed, for the first time, three different all-country ties. All three were between English clubs, illustrating the Premier League’s dominance in Europe during this time period. In the last eight, Arsenal were eliminated at the hands of Liverpool, who went on to face Chelsea in the semis for the third time in four seasons. Manchester United went on to win the competition that year, beating Chelsea in the final on penalties in Moscow.
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- Liverpool v Chelsea – This is the joint-most frequent all-country tie in the UEFA Champions League. These two sides faced each other four times in five seasons between 2005 and 2009, progressing on two occasions apiece. Only Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have faced each other as frequently.
- France – Of Europe’s five major leagues, Ligue 1 was the last to get an all-country clash. In the quarter-finals of the 2010 edition, Bordeaux faced and lost out to Lyon 3-2 on aggregate.
- Atletico Madrid – Los Colchoneros have an unfortunate record in all-country ties. They are one of only two clubs in Europe who have contested at least three Champions League ties with clubs from the same country as them without success. Incidentally, all of their UCL misfortune has come at the hands of city rivals Real Madrid. The other club is, oddly enough, Manchester City, who have suffered defeats and eliminations at the hands of Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea.
- 29 – The total number of all-country Champions League clashes in history.
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