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19 Stories on FC Barcelona
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SI.com: World Soccer: La Liga is Europe's most attractive league once more

Even the proudest of Spaniards had to accept defeat; even the most enthusiastic La Liga cheerleaders were forced to pack away their pompoms. The warm glow of the European Championship success still endured -- but the national team was one thing, the nation's teams quite another. The lineup for the 2008-09 Champions League semifinals brought Spain crashing back down to earth.

SI.com: Jonah Freedman: Ibrahimovic eyes true greatness in Barcelona move

It's decided: Zlatan Ibrahimovic's new nickname is "Elite Status."

SI.com: Gregory Sica: The top 10 stars of the Libertadores in shop window

The 50th edition of South America's Champions League, the Copa Libertadores, is set for a thrilling climax, with the return legs of both semifinals scheduled for this week. With Nacional of Uruguay taking on Argentina's Estudiantes de La Plata and an all-Brazilian affair of Grêmio up against Cruzeiro, fans will be treated to two matches embroidered with history and still wide open after the first-leg results. Between them, the four semifinalists have won the competition 10 times (Cruzeiro was the last, 12 years ago).

SI.com: World Soccer: Despite crisis, big names will move in summer market

The summer transfer market is a few weeks away from opening and already the signs are that the global financial crisis is forcing clubs to rethink their annual spending.

SI.com: Gabriele Marcotti: Guardiola out-coaches the master in Champions final

ROME -- The Eternal City was the most appropriate of backdrops for what we witnessed on Wednesday. It was supposed to be a case of the true believers: Barcelona and its quasi-fundamentalist, possession-oriented credo thrown to the lions of Manchester United's top-to-bottom combination of strength, athleticism and quality. It was dogmatism versus pragmatism.

SI.com: Jonah Freedman: Live commentary of the Champions League final

Barcelona vs. Manchester United: Chime with your thoughts on the Champions League final here

SI.com: Gabriele Marcotti: Champions final an epic duel of world's best players

One is the kind of athlete you might design in a lab: tall, lean and muscular, with a seemingly inexhaustible arsenal of skills. The other is a throwback, a scrappy little player whose abilities are more difficult to pin down because they border on the metaphysical. At 6'1" and 172 pounds, Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo is soccer's Magic Johnson: a big man with skills usually associated with smaller players. At 5'7" and 148 pounds, Barcelona's Lionel Messi looks more like somebody's kid brother and plays like Pete Maravich, with an otherworldly touch that allows him to do the unthinkable with the ball.

SI.com: Gabriele Marcotti: Breaking down the dream Champions League final

SI.com's Gabriele Marcotti breaks down Wednesday's Champions League final matchup between Manchester United and FC Barcelona (ESPN, 2:30 p.m. ET).

SI.com: Greg Lalas: If everyone loves Barça, why are they picking Man U?

It's safe to say Wednesday's Champions League final is the most anticipated title match since UEFA created the platinum edition of Europe's top tournament. From Rome to Rochester to Rangoon, everyone with even a modicum of soccer in his blood is planning on watching the game live, regardless if that requires skipping an important sales call at work or losing a few hours of sleep.

SI.com: World Soccer: Game on! Impossibly, it's a race in Spain once again

If a week is a long time in politics, it can be forever in soccer. Seven days was all it took to completely change attitudes on both sides of Spain's great divide and reopen a title race that appeared all over.

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