LONDON (Reuters)

English clubs made Champions League history on Wednesday with all four finishing top of their sections in the group phase.

It is the first time that four clubs from the same country have all finished top of their respective groups.

Chelsea, who beat Levski Sofia 2-0 on Tuesday, topped Group A with 13 points from their six matches, two clear of defending European champions Barcelona.

Liverpool, European champions for the fifth time in 2005, won Group C with 13 points — three clear of PSV Eindhoven.

Although Manchester United's qualification looked far from certain at one stage when they were trailing Benfica 1-0 at Old Trafford on Wednesday, their eventual 3-1 victory was enough to see them finish top of Group F with 12 points — three clear of Celtic who lost 3-1 at FC Copenhagen.

Arsenal, who drew 0-0 at Porto on Wednesday, finished top of Group G with 11 points, the same tally as Porto, but Arsenal took top spot because of their better head-to-head record against the 2004 European champions. With Celtic also qualifying for the knockout phase, all five British clubs in the competition have gone through to the last 16, also a first.

Ryan Giggs, who scored his first European goal of the season in United's victory over Benfica, became the first player in Champions League history to score in 12 successive seasons.