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ANOTHER CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DOMESTIC SEMI-FINAL THIS WEEK

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Another UEFA Champions League semi-final clash is yet upon us as Real and Atletico Madrid face off on Tuesday.


Atletico will take a short trip within the Spanish capital city to Estadio Santiago Bernabeu as they play Real for the fourth successive time in the elite European league.

Both sides have clashed two times in the final and Real came out victors on both occasions. The other was at the quarter finals and Real were victors. This is the first time they are competing in the semi-final – a rare thing in the Champions League era.

Since the rebranded tournament in 1992, there have been 44 semi-final clashes but less than 20 percent of them have been games between clubs in the same league. Even rarer is a city derby.

The first domestic semi-final clash happened at the start of the new millennium. Barcelona played Valencia in the semis. Valencia defeated their rivals 4-1 in the first leg and had 5-3 aggregate to excel.

In two years, Real had to battle Barcelona on the same stage. Current Real coach Zinedine Zidane was on target alongside Steve McManaman at Nou Camp. They return ended 1-1 and Madrid prevailed.

In 2003, at the height of the Milanese competition, Andriy Shevchenko’s goal was enough for AC Milan to go past Inter after the first leg ended in a barren draw.

Chelsea and Liverpool met in 2005 and 2007. On both occasions the Reds were the victors.Liverpool won the first time, going on to beat AC Milan in the final, doing the Istanbul miracle. In 2007, the game dragged on and was decided through spot kicks which Liverpool won. The Blues met them the following year but they prevailed this time. After a 1-1 draw in the first leg, Chelsea won the return 3-2 to advance to the final.

Man United and Arsenal met in the last four of 2009. United had the advantage from the first leg and goals from Park Ji Sung and Cristiano Ronaldo sealed a 4-1 aggregate.

The most recent domestic semi-final was six year ago when xlr8 SoccerBarca prevailed over Real Madrid courtesy of a Lionel Messi magic. They went on to defeat Man United in the final.