Mark_Concannon's Blog

How about that Final Four? All the top seeds surviving, setting up a battle of the titans! I'm not talking Jayhawks or Tarheels here. It's the UEFA Champions League, where four iconic soccer clubs have advanced to the semifinals.

Liverpool, the UCLA of the beautiful game, advanced for the third time in the last four years. The Reds won a controversial match over English Premier League rival Arsenal on Tuesday. The Gunners scored in the 74th minute to equalize at 2-2, a result which would have sent them through to the next round. But a minute later, Arsenal's Kolo Toure was called for a foul inside the 18-yard box. Stephen Gerrard converted the ensuing penalty kick and Liverpool kept its European dreams alive.

Chelsea, the "Kansas" of the group, needed a one goal victory over Turkey's Fenerbache(call them "Davidson") who had stunned the Blues with two lightning fast tallies last week in Istanbul to the delight of the incessantly roaring home crowd, which belted out deeply guttural club songs from the opening kick to final whistle. In the return leg Tuesday, Michael Ballack scored in the 4th minute, but Chelsea fans could not breathe easily until the 87th minute when Frank Lampard converted Michael Essien's cross for an insurance goal. So now the Blues face the Reds in an all-English matchup in the semis.

In the other half of the draw, there is FC Barcelona, the "Memphis" of the last four, with its glittering stars Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry(he's the "other guy" in the Gillette commercial with Tiger Woods and Roger Federer) Barca barely broke a sweat winning two 1-0 matches with the overmatched German side FC Schalke.

Manchester United completes the final four, clearly the "North Carolina" of UEFA with its great tradition and deep roster of top players. The Red Devils drew AS Roma in the quarterfinals, scored two goals in the first leg in Italy and coasted to a 1-0 win yesterday at Old Trafford. . Now that all of its players are healthy, Man U. looks unstoppable.It is almost unfair. In Wednesday's triumph, manager Sir Alex Ferguson(yes, he's actually a knight) rested Golden Ball(given to the world's top player) favorite Ronaldo and played top striker Wayne Rooney for just 20 minutes, saving them for Sunday's huge EPL match with Arsenal.

So how good is this? Chelsea against Liverpool. Barcelona versus United. Home and home 2 game battles to determine the finalists.

Who will have "one shining moment" at the championship match next month in Moscow? Five great contests among the world's best clubs will give us the answer.