The semifinal round of the European Champions League starts tomorrow, and for the second year in a row, three of the four semifinalists are from England. Liverpool, Chelsea, and Manchester United are joined this year by Barcelona, the only continental club left in the competition.

The three English clubs are hoping for a better showing this time around: Last year, AC Milan not only spoiled an all-English final by overcoming Manchester United in the semifinals, but also beat Liverpool in the final, exacting revenge for Liverpool’s thrilling comeback win over Milan in 2005. While Manchester United are the prohibitive favorites, the two semifinals provide must-watch viewing for soccer fans — and for fans in America, the challenge of finding a plausible excuse to leave work early to catch the mid-afternoon start times.

Liverpool and Chelsea meet for the third time in four years in the Champions League semifinals. Their past meetings have been cagey affairs, tactical stalemates with few goals and an emphasis on defense over attack. Familiarity apparently breeds caution. In both, Liverpool ultimately prevailed due in no small part to its manager, the Spaniard Rafa Benitez, who is a master tactician, always coming up with the right formations and strategies to pull his team through.

Chelsea has a new manager since they last met Liverpool in the Champions League semifinal. Jose Mourinho, the self-proclaimed “Special One” — a moniker he coined while actually asserting that he is not arrogant — has been replaced by Avram Grant, formerly director of football at the club. Liverpool’s Benitez might actually miss Mourinho’s bluster, which gave him cover to craft his game plans. Mourinho instilled so much self-belief in his players they possibly overlooked Liverpool. This time, the dour and reserved Grant will not allow that to happen. Despite Chelsea’s focus, Benitez and Liverpool are masters of knockout competitions and should sneak past Chelsea in another close, tense encounter.

The semifinal between Manchester United and Barcelona is the more anticipated matchup, promising a dazzling display of attacking soccer. United, currently on top in England’s Premier League, boasts the best player in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo, who is proving he deserves that title performing at his absolute peak right now. The team is by no means a one-man show, though, as it has assembled world-class attacking talent almost unrivaled in Europe.

Barcelona, at least on paper, is one of the few clubs that can match United’s array of talented attacking players. Lionel Messi, Barcelona’s 20-year-old Argentine prodigy is all but the equal of United’s Ronaldo — he’s the “1b” to Ronaldo’s “1a.” Both players terrorize the opposition by running at defenders with the speed, quickness, and skill to split open a defense and make scoring opportunities for themselves and their teammates. Messi also has talented teammates: Brazilian Ronaldinho, Frenchman Thierry Henry, and Cameroonian Samuel Eto’o are three of the best attacking players of the past 10 years.

Alas, they all come with baggage. Messi and Eto’o have missed substantial portions of the season due to injury, and Ronaldinho has fallen out of favor with the club, even recently announcing that he will take his mercurial talents to Milan next season. Henry, once Arsenal’s best player and captain, has failed to settle in Barcelona, and Arsenal’s decision to sell him now looks prescient. As imposing as Barcelona’s team looks on paper, it has not translated to the field this season. Although most of the players remain from the squad that won the 2006 Champions League and Spanish league titles, this Barcelona team is not playing nearly as well. Currently, Barcelona trails Real Madrid in the Spanish league and has won fewer than half of its games in 2008.

And yet Messi’s return from injury for the games against Manchester United gives Barcelona renewed hope. Aside from Ronaldo, Messi is the one player in the world most likely to turn a game in an instant. His availability for Barcelona means that despite United’s superlative performance this season, its dream of a double Premier League and Champions league triumph has been thrown into doubt.

Nonetheless, Manchester United’s current form suggests it will prevail and advance to the final, meeting one of its English rivals in Moscow for the first all-English Champions league final. United’s manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, wants desperately to win another Champions League title — the team famously won the Premier league, FA Cup, and Champions League titles in the 1999 “treble” season. A second European title would give him one more than legendary United manager Sir Matt Busby, cement Ferguson’s legacy as the greatest United manager, and might finally convince the long-tenured (22 years) and aging Ferguson, 66, to retire.

So, imagine Manchester United against Liverpool in the Champions League final: The most passionate rivalry in English soccer over the last 30 years transported to and renewed in Russia. Two English clubs, separated by just 35 miles, traveling 1,600 miles to face each other for the European title. Perhaps it is fitting that they should have to travel so far from home to decide their fate — both clubs are now owned by Americans who must travel over 3,000 miles across the Atlantic just to catch a home game. What’s another two time zones for the European final? At the Champions League final on May 21 in Moscow, look for Ferguson and Manchester United to prevail over Benitez and Liverpool. And after the season, don’t hold your breath waiting for Sir Alex’s retirement press conference.

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