Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) - Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger knows if you hope to advance far in the Champions League "you have to play an English team at some stage."

Arsenal has finally reached that point in this season's competition, and faces defending champion Manchester United in the semifinals.

In the other half of the bracket, another of England's Fab Four - Chelsea - is still alive for the title.

Liverpool - which had reached the semis in three of the last four seasons - is the only English team feeling "the Blues" after being eliminated by Chelsea.

So to recap this season's knockout stage to date, the Brits are 6-0 in series against non-English clubs. In the last two tournaments - including the current one - the Fab Four is 12-0 against non-English clubs in the knockout stage.

Even if you go back three seasons, England is a combined 18-3 against the rest of Europe, with two of those losses to Italian champion AC Milan in 2007.

"England always have the same clubs in the last four of the Champions League, which shows that the way they are playing football is, for me, the best," said Robert Pires of Villarreal, which was eliminated in the quarters by Arsenal.

Anyone spotted an Italian club at this stage recently? Not since Milan in '07. How about the Spanish? Other than Barcelona - this season's other semifinalist - Spain has had just one other club, Villarreal, reach this stage in the last five events.

How about the Germans? Well, it's been seven years since Bayer Leverkusen made it to the semifinals and lost in the final. You have to go back to '01 to find Germany's last winner, Bayern Munich.

The Netherlands had its last semifinalist in 2005 (PSV Eindhoven), and France (Monaco) and Portugal (FC Porto) last had a club reach the last four in 2004 - and those appearances were the lone one for each country this decade.

There's really no disputing that England's Fab Four owns the tournament, but it's getting old watching these rivals play over and over again.

This season's competition marks the third straight time three of England's Big Four are in the semifinals, and each of the teams has made at least one finals appearance in the last four events. England has also had at least one finalist dating back five seasons, when Liverpool won the Champions League.

In addition to playing twice a season in the English Premier League, the clubs often meet in the FA Cup or Carling Cup. Arsenal and Chelsea play in the semis of the FA Cup on Saturday, and the winner would face United in the final if it gets by Everton in the other semi.

Sure, Chelsea and Barcelona holds some appeal this season - much more than the Arsenal-United semifinal - but another all-English final is a possibility.

"I can't wait to play [Barcelona]," Chelsea's Frank Lampard said.

Certainly better than playing Arsenal or United, huh, Frank?

It was a bit of a novelty to see two English clubs clash in the final last season when United beat Chelsea on penalty kicks, as it's happened just two other times this decade when rivals from the same country met in the final (Spain's Real Madrid and Valencia in 2000, and Italy's AC Milan and Juventus in 2003).

If it starts happening in every tournament, though, that anticipated Wednesday in May when the final takes place is going to start losing its luster.

Sure, in its basic form, the Champions League is set up to determine the best club, but the allure is watching European heavyweights that meet once or twice a decade - if that - compete in the final.

Yes, English clubs are playing plenty of teams from the rest of Europe in the early stages of the knockout round, but the semifinals and the finals are the most appealing.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter is tired of the English dominance as well, and is working on the 6+5 rule, which would require club teams to start a minimum of six players eligible for the national team of the country in which they play.

United wouldn't be crushed by the change, which would be phased in over three years, but Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool would have to be almost completely rebuilt.

Whether the 6+5 rule is the right answer to level the playing field in Europe is a tough question, but if more players were forced to stay in their native countries, it would restore some balance in Europe.

That would certainly give former European giants like Ajax and PSV, which lack the funds to retain the Netherlands' top players, the ability to compete for a Champions League title. French teams would also regain a lot of their strength and challenge England's giants.

Now, nobody is asking for another FC Porto-Monaco final like 2004, but it's a matchup that defines the Champions League better than having Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or United play each other - again.