By Alan Hansen BBC Sport football expert

The Champions League has provided some great excitement for fans of English football over the last three years.

Liverpool began England's dominance with victory in 1977

And three teams - Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United - reaching the semi-finals last season was a great boost to the domestic game.

You can gauge how strong a league is by how its teams do in Europe.

And with an England side making the final three years on the trot - Liverpool (2005 and 2007) and Arsenal (2006) - it shows you how high the standard is in the Premier League these days.

But it needs to maintain such levels over a number of years - and win the competition again - to back up any claims about it being the strongest league in the world.

Between 1977 and 1984, English teams won the competition every year bar one. They were dominant in Europe and it was great for the domestic game and for the national profile to have so many great sides.

This year, the Premier League has four sides that could go all the way - Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United.

I could not single out any one of them - they all have a great chance.

Some might not think Arsenal have the strength in depth, but they have got off to a flying start in the Premier League, so who knows?

ENGLAND'S DOMINANCE, 1977-84 1976/77: Liverpool 1977/78: Liverpool 1978/79: Nottingham Forest 1979/80: Nottingham Forest 1980/81: Liverpool 1981/82: Aston Villa 1983/84: Liverpool

There will be plenty of challengers, the big boys like Barcelona and AC Milan are always there, but the important thing is not to worry about anyone else.

All four English teams should qualify from the groups. Some will have it harder than others, but I expect them to progress.

Then we get into the real excitement of the knockout stages.

Teams can come from nowhere to win the Champions League. We saw that three years ago with Liverpool and before that with Porto, under Jose Mourinho, in 2004.

And it can be a real battle for some sides getting the balance right between domestic and European competition.

I still think it is possible for an English club to win both the Premier League and Champions League in the same season

Teams have to rest their star players in order to keep them fresh - and sometimes that means they end up slipping up in their own leagues.

I still think it is possible for an English club to win both the Premier League and Champions League in the same season, but most think it is too tough a task.

Liverpool have not been able to do it while Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United have stumbled in Europe at the final few hurdles in recent years.

It's a massive boost for the game in Scotland to see Celtic and Rangers joining the English contingent in the group stages of the Champions League.

And coming hot on the heels of Scotland's shock win over France in a Euro 2008 qualifier in Paris, it means football is on a real high up there.

606: DEBATE How will the British teams fare in Europe?

It will be interesting to see how the two Glasgow sides fare.

The game is all about money these days and the two Glasgow sides need to go that extra step to the knockout rounds in order to earn the real revenues.

Hopefully they can make it through. It would be fascinating to have all six British teams in there.