Chelsea F.C. top flight, which lasted 86 matches from 20 March 2004 to 26 October 2008. They secured the record on 12 August 2007, beating the previous record of 63 matches unbeaten set by Liverpool between 1978 and 1980. Chelsea's streak of eleven consecutive away league wins, set between 5 April 2008 and 6 December 2008, is also a record for the English top flight. Their £50 million purchase of Fernando Torres from Liverpool in January 2011 was the record transfer fee paid by a British club until Ángel Di María signed for Manchester United in August 2014 for £59.7 million. Chelsea,
History of Liverpool F.C. (1985–present) businessmen George Gillett and Tom Hicks bought the club, in a deal which valued it and its outstanding debts at £218.9 million. Liverpool once more came third in the league, this time 21 points behind Manchester United. They went out of both domestic cup competitions to Arsenal, but reached the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final where they again faced Milan. Unlike 2005, Liverpool were unable to recover from going behind, and lost the match 2–1. During the summer, Benítez strengthened his team by signing Fernando Torres for a club record £24 million, and midfielders Ryan Babel and Yossi Benayoun. They