Iberian flavour to English affair

By Trevor Haylett

The all-English UEFA Champions League semi-final between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC will have a strong continental flavour. Key players on both sides honed their skills on foreign fields, while two coaches mastered their art in Portugal and Spain respectively.

Opposite corners
José Mourinho and Rafael Benítez were appointed to two of English football's most prized posts within the space of two weeks last summer and have since seen more of each other than they might have anticipated. They found themselves in opposite corners when the first English trophy of the season was decided in February and now compete for the honour of leading out the Premiership's first representatives in the final of Europe's most prestigious club competition for six years.

Love affair
Whoever wins through the two-legged semi-final which gets under way on Wednesday at Stamford Bridge, the triumphant manager will be continuing a remarkable love affair with the continent's major prizes.

European success
Mourinho is defending the Champions League crown he won eleven months ago with FC Porto. Seven days before that, Benítez had stood on a similar podium in Gothenburg after watching his Valencia CF side lift the UEFA Cup. The man from Portugal had passed that particular piece of silverware down to the Spaniard – Porto just edging out Celtic FC in a five-goal thriller the previous year.

In demand
With Porto and Valencia also proving the dominant force last season in their domestic championships, the CVs of the two managers became an enticement for every big club with a vacancy to fill. Mourinho was rumoured to have been offered the opportunity to succeed Gérard Houllier at Liverpool but, with Roman Abramovich happy to continue funding the Chelsea revolution, it was inevitable he would find a new home in west London.

Anfield test
That left the path clear for Benítez to assume the difficult task of restoring Liverpool to former glories. There have been hiccups along the way and more defeats in the league than the Anfield loyalists would tolerate, but in Europe fans will have no complaints about Liverpool's passion.

Winning mentality
Both Mourinho and Benítez have instilled a winning mentality into their clubs and formed a solid bond with the players. They are happy to use scientific methods on the training ground and tactically they have proved themselves among the sharpest in the business.

Figures of authority
The pair have been highly visible additions to the English footballing landscape, both patrolling their technical areas with authority. If there is a major difference between them it would appear to be in the intensity level they bring to their work: Mourinho is an emotional fireball, Benítez, a cool-headed enigma.

Chelsea dominant
The two coaches met in the English League Cup final earlier this season. Chelsea edged it 3-2 after extra time to give Mourinho a 3-0 lead in their personal head-to-head after the London team had won both league matches 1-0, each time courtesy of a Joe Cole strike. Since then Chelsea have pulled further away at the Premiership summit, giving Mourinho the prospect of a magnificent treble, though Liverpool have arguably made the greater improvement, landing a memorable knockout blow on Juventus FC in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Players back
Benítez has key performers like Xabi Alonso and Djibril Cissé back after injury and if he can come out on top over the next two weeks the Spaniard would consider his first campaign at Anfield to be a very successful season indeed.