Barcelona officially pull out of European Super League leaving Real Madrid as only founding club remaining | OneFootball

Barcelona have begun the process of exiting the European Super League (ESL), a move that leaves Real Madrid as the sole remaining founding club involved in the project.

On Saturday, a statement from the club said: “FC Barcelona informs that today it has formally communicated to European Super League Company and the Clubs that have been part of its withdrawal from the ESL project.”

The European Super League was unveiled in April 2021 as a breakaway competition designed to rival Uefa’s Champions League, built around a closed 20 team model. It quickly unravelled after fans reacted strongly against it.

Twelve sides signed on as founding members, including six from the Premier League, three from Spain and three from Italy.

All six English clubs - Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur - withdrew, along with Atletico Madrid and Serie A’s AC Milan and Inter.

Juventus later confirmed in 2023 that they too had stepped away leaving only Barcelona and Real Madrid still publicly attached to the scheme.

In January 2023, Barcelona president Joan Laporta said he still believed a new European competition could be launched, initially positioning itself as a rival to the Premier League.

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By December 2023, the ESL’s backers, Madrid-based company A22. had proposed a revamped 64 club format across three divisions with promotion and relegation between tiers and free TV coverage, though qualification rules remained unclear.

A year later, plans evolved again into a four-tier, 96 team competition rebranded as the Unify League.

Teams would qualify through their domestic leagues with the structure split into Star, Gold, Blue and Union divisions - 16 clubs in the top two tiers and 32 in the lower two.

In November 2025, A22 formally requested Uefa’s pre-approval of the Unify League within eight weeks.

The concept was designed to rival the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League rather than domestic competitions. Following the downfall of the ESL proposal Uefa updated its regulations regarding new competitions.