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This week, the Champions League, the top European clubs competition continues, with a knockout stage that has paired up some of the most prestigious teams in Europe. One of the most anticipated qualifying rounds will put FC Barcelona against Chelsea FC, seen as an anticipated final to the double leg match. The first leg will be played in London this Wednesday and the return leg on the 7th March in Barcelona.

The Chelsea-Barça match holds a lot of interest, for three main reasons. Firstly, the two teams have already come head to head last season, also in the last 16 of the Champions League in a qualifier – a controversial match both on and off the pitch, only just won by the London side.

Secondly, both clubs, Chelsea and Barça have been around for over a hundred years, but prove to be very different types of club. The former is owned by a Russian millionaire, Roman Abramovich, who has transformed the fashionable West End club into one of the most powerful clubs in the world; the latter is owned by its members; over one hundred thousand of them, and it is a symbol of Catalan national sentiment that goes well beyond the sporting dimension.

And finally, the FC Barcelona and Chelsea FC are considered two of the best teams in European football, with two very different styles of play.