REVERSE LAPHAMIZATION at the Financial Times:

It is not just on the soccer pitch that Barcelona is at last beating perennial Spanish rivals Real Madrid, but off it too. Under construction magnate Florentino Pérez, Real had become the establishment club as well as the title-winning one.

But last night's Barcelona-Chelsea match was another sign of how the boot is on the other foot after the surprise election of José Luis Zapatero almost a year ago.

Zapatero, a Barça fan, became the first Spanish leader since the fascist dictator Francisco Franco to watch a game at the Nou Camp - and Franco only went to exorcise the ghosts of Catalan nationalism.

And this is written today, the day after a match that Zapatero didn't attend; he had to cancel the trip due to the weather conditions (two last links in Spanish).