La Liga Strike: Resolution Great News for Spain's Champions League Teams

After missing the first week of matches due to financial issues, the La Liga strike has been resolved and games will begin this weekend, according to Reuters' Iain Rogers. It's great news for the four Champions League teams from Spain who need the matches to get prepared for next month's group stage fixtures.

Defending champion Barcelona, along with Real Madrid, Villarreal and Valencia, will be representing La Liga in the world's biggest club tournament. Without the league games to get prepared, each of them would have been at a severe disadvantage in their opening matches.

Barcelona opens with a match against AC Milan, the other squad likely to come out of Group H. By ending the strike after missing just one week, L'equip Blaugrana will enter the game on a level playing field. Even though they are heavy favorites, getting off to a strong start is still important for Barcelona.

Barca's “El Clasico” rivals, Real Madrid, begin the march toward a Champions League crown with a trip to Croatia for a match against Dinamo Zagreb. Cristiano Ronaldo is a streaky goal scorer and Madrid need him in top form heading into the group stage.

The league matches will probably be more helpful to Villarreal and Valencia though, as neither of those teams are expected to advance with the same ease as Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Villarreal was placed into Group A, which could very well be toughest group in the tournament. El Submarino Amarillo gets a visit from Bayern Munich on Sept. 14 and will need every minute of preparation available to be ready for that match.

Valencia play Racing Genk in their first game, which is certainly an easier matchup than Bayern Munich, but it is on the road. They'll travel to Belgium and will need to secure all three points to put themselves where they need to be moving forward.

While all four teams have different roads to travel in the Champions League and will battle each other all season in La Liga, they will all agree on one thing: They're happy the strike is over.