Real Madrid left as sole backer of Super League after Barça step away | OneFootball

Barcelona's formal retreat has left Real Madrid as the last club backing the Super League project, whose prospects look bleak. According to L'Équipe, the breakaway now rests solely on Florentino Pérez's club and organiser A22.

The failed October 2021 launch quickly crumbled when Premier League sides withdrew hours after amid protests by supporters. That left Juventus, Barça and Real, but Juve soon stepped away and Barcelona have now made their exit official.

Joan Laporta, campaigning for another term as president of the Spanish champions, has moved closer to UEFA's Aleksander Ceferin and Paris Saint-Germain's Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, who chairs the European Clubs Association. The timing aims to avoid alienating socios, with the Super League unpopular in Catalonia and beyond.

A22, working with Real and Pérez, says Barcelona had long since stepped back and would not pursue damages against UEFA over alleged abuse of dominant position. Real Madrid and A22 have begun a damages action after talks with UEFA yielded nothing and a rival European competition failed to launch, seeking 4.5 billion euros.

UEFA is not understood to be concerned. Ceferin has repeatedly condemned the breakaway, casting its architects as harming European football and vowing to resist attempts to split the game for greater revenue.

UEFA points to the revamped Champions League as its counter, a format now widely praised after a rocky birth. It will deliver club revenues of 3.3 billion euros between 2024 and 2027, up from 2.7 billion in the previous cycle.

Source: L'Équipe