Continental masters come together

By Peter Stirling

Facts and figures
AC Milan lead the field with six titles, while only Chelsea FC and Olympique Lyonnais have never been continental champions. While history counts for much, current form is a more relevant guide to future success and most of the sides left in the competition are doing well.

Winning formula
Collectively, the eight quarter-finalists have lost just 27 of a combined total of 220 domestic league games played this season. Take Liverpool FC, the only team not in the top three of their league, out of the equation and that number comes down to 16.

AC Milan (ITA)
Qualified as: Italian champions
Serie A status: First (P28 W19 D6 L3)
Group stage: Group F winners (P6 W4 D1 L1)
Best performance: Winners (1963, 1969, 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003)
2003/04 Champions League: Quarter-finals (lost 5-4 on aggregate to RC Deportivo La Coruña)

Coach Carlo Ancelotti's squad showed their strength in the last round, seeing off Manchester United FC without their two main strikers - European Footballer of the Year Andriy Shevchenko and Italian international Filippo Inzaghi. In their absence, Hernán Crespo played as the lone forward and responded with the winning goals in two 1-0 victories. Ancelotti has excellent cover in most positions and with captain Paolo Maldini outstanding in defence alongside Cafu and Jaap Stam, Milan are the team the others will want to avoid in Friday's draw.

Chelsea FC (ENG)
Qualified as: English runners-up
Premiership status: First (P29 W23 D5 L1)
Group stage: Group H winners (P6 W4 D1 L1)
Best performance: Semi-finals (2004)
2003/04 Champions League: Semi-finals (lost 5-3 on aggregate to AS Monaco FC)

Chelsea's centenary year promises to be the greatest in their history, but despite a memorable triumph over FC Barcelona, they face more tough obstacles ahead. Coach José Mourinho is attempting to become the first coach in the competition's 49-year history to lift the European Cup in successive seasons with different clubs, but that feat is not an impossible one given Chelsea have greater reserves and strength in depth than FC Porto could call on last term. Chelsea also have one jinx to overcome: no club qualifying from Group H has been crowned European champions.

FC Bayern München (GER) 
Qualified as: German runners-up
Bundesliga status: Second (P25 W15 D5 L5)
Group stage: Group C runners-up (P6 W3 D1 L2)
Best performance: Winners (1974, 1975, 1976, 2001)
2003/04 Champions League: First knockout round (lost 2-1 on aggregate to Real Madrid CF)

Bayern will be hoping striker Roy Makaay recovers from a thigh strain in time for the first leg of their quarter-final at the beginning of April, because as goalkeeper Oliver Kahn remarked this week: "We are toothless without him." Certainly, Bayern have struggled without the Dutchman in their last two matches which ended in 1-0 defeats by Arsenal FC and FC Schalke 04. Nevertheless, Felix Magath's men have a confidence about them lacking for some time and their 3-1 first-leg victory against Arsenal was hailed as one of their finest European performances in years.

FC Internazionale Milano (ITA)
Qualified as: Fourth place in Italy
Serie A status: Third (P28 W10 D17 L1)
Group stage: Group G winners (P6 W4 D2 L0)
Best performance: Winners (1964, 1965)
2003/04 Champions League: Group stage

It is 40 years since Inter were last European champions, but the question being asked on both sides of the Milan divide is whether Adriano's goals could lead them back to the summit this season. The Brazilian striker, blighted by a winter goal drought, looked back to his best with a hat-trick in the 3-1 first knockout round second-leg victory against Porto. Inter have no chance of winning Serie A, having drawn 17 of their 28 league games. That kind of resilience, though, could prove the key to further progress in the tough matches ahead.

Juventus FC (ITA)
Qualified as: Third place in Italy
Serie A status: Second (P28 W19 D6 L3)
Group stage: Group C winners (P6 W5 D1 L0)
Best performance: Winners (1985, 1996)
2003/04 Champions League: First knockout round (lost 2-0 on aggregate to Deportivo)

Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved should be back from the treatment table for the quarter-finals - which will make Fabio Capello's side even harder to beat than they already are. Vast experience in every position, confidence boosted by knocking Madrid out in the previous round and the tightest defence in Serie A which has conceded just 16 goals in 28 matches suggest Juventus could go all the way this season. As well as having one eye on the Champions League, they are also level pegging with Milan in the Italian title race. They will be determined not to blink first.

Liverpool FC (ENG) 
Qualified as: Fourth place in England
Premiership status: Fifth (P29 W13 D5 L11)
Group stage: Group A runners-up (P6 W3 D1 L2)
Best performance: Winners (1977, 1978, 1981, 1984)
2003/04 Champions League: Did not qualify

Manager Rafael Benítez is having a frustrating first term at Liverpool, whose prospects have not been by long-term injuries to Djibril Cissé, Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Xabi Alonso. Milan Baroš has had to shoulder the striking burden with mixed success, while Fernando Morientes is cup-tied. Despite their generally erratic form and injury problems, Liverpool are still capable of some excellent football as they showed in their emphatic Round of 16 victory against Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Whether they can add to their four European Cups remains to be seen, but they will be no pushovers for the more fancied teams.

Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
Qualified as: French champions
Ligue 1 status: First (P29 W16 D11 L2)
Group stage: Group D winners (P6 W4 D1 L1)
Best performance: Quarter-finals (2004)
2003/04 Champions League: Quarter-finals (lost 4-2 on aggregate to Porto)

Lyon's 10-2 aggregate success against German champions Werder Bremen should serve as a warning to anyone bold enough to underestimate coach Paul Le Guen's exciting ensemble. Lyon have scored 27 goals in this Champions League campaign - more than any other team. They might not possess the star names or be accorded the praise their performances so far deserve, but Lyon look a stronger side than Monaco did last year - and Monaco made it to the final. Lyon, French champions for the first time in 2002, are on course for their fourth straight domestic crown, and their fans at least believe this can be doubled up with the European title.

PSV Eindhoven (NED) 
Qualified as: Dutch runners-up
Eredivisie status: First (P24 W19 D4 L1)
Group stage: Group E runners-up (P6 W3 D1 L2)
Best performance: Winners (1988)
2003/04 Champions League: Group stage

When PSV won the European Cup in 1988, their team had a solid Dutch base with a sprinkling of foreigners adding attacking flair and defensive strength. But whereas 17 years ago the foreigners were from nearby European countries, PSV's 2005 intake stretches from Brazil to the Korean Republic, from the United States to Peru. Yet what the 1988 side have in common with today's is that Guus Hiddink is coach and would love to reclaim the trophy. One defeat in 24 Eredivisie matches all season, and a battling 2-0 aggregate victory against 2004 runners-up Monaco, should have given PSV the confidence to go further, although if they fail to make it beyond the last eight it will be no disgrace.