An earthquake in European football. The announcement of the new European Football Super League has completely shaken the sport across the continent. The new club competition, in which Barça will take part and which will be chaired by Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez, will replace the Champions League.
Barça says yes to the European Super League
And Barça itself has confirmed its presence in the competition this Monday: "FC Barcelona announces that it has reached an agreement with eleven other of the most important football clubs in Europe to form a new competition, the Super League" . The Barça club added in a statement that the competition "will be governed by its Founding Clubs and was born with the aim of being the best sports competition at club level in the world".
Thus, the Barça club states that it reaffirms the agreement that former president Josep Maria Bartomeu once pre-announced and in which it joins AC Milan, Arsenal FC, Atlético Madrid, Chelsea FC, FC Internazionale Milano, Juventus FC, Liverpool FC, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid CF and Tottenham Hotspur.
The Barça shield adorns the club's baskeball stadium, the Palau Blaugrana / EuropaPress
In addition, Barça also explained that all the founding clubs, for the good of the competition, "hope to hold talks with UEFA and FIFA soon in order to find the best solutions for the Super League and for world football as a whole".
The Catalan club also stated that "the creation of the Super League occurs when the global pandemic has accelerated the instability of the current economic model of European football." And the reason for the creation of this new competition, which they have been planning for many years, is to "increase the value and the assistance for the benefit of the football pyramid as a whole" through "a strategic vision and a commercial approach".
Moment in the Champions League draw when Barça's name came out / EFE
Super League to replace the Champions League
The competition will consist of 20 participating clubs, always with the presence of the founders. And it will be a tournament that will be played on weekdays, and therefore, will replace the Champions League, which they consider obsolete. "All clubs will continue to compete in their respective national leagues, thus preserving the traditional calendar that is at the heart of club life," said a Barça statement.
And the club adds that "this new annual tournament will provide significantly greater economic growth," concluding that "FC Barcelona, faithful to its history and its leadership in the framework of European football, is once again positioned as a frontrunning club in leading the great changes required by the world of football and always thinking of the maximum benefit for the club from the sport, institutional and economic point of view".
Main image: The Barça shield/ FC Barcelona