New European Super League plans could attract Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barca

Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid are likely to welcome the idea of a new, revamped European League.

German company A22 Sports Management is currently promoting the potential format for a revamped European league.

They propose that a new-look European Super League would be a competition with no permanent members and based on sporting performance, says A22 chief executive Bernd Reichart.

The company backed a 12-club ESL proposal in 2021, but that dramatically failed to materialise after Europe-wide protests against it.

“The foundations of European football are in danger of collapsing,” Reichart told German newspaper Die Welt.

“It’s time for a change.

“It is the clubs that bear the entrepreneurial risk in football.

“But when important decisions are at stake, they are too often forced to sit idly by on the sidelines as the sporting and financial foundations crumble around them.”

The original plans for the ESL in 2021 contained 20 teams – 12 founding members and three unnamed clubs they expected to join later, plus five clubs who would have qualified annually based on their domestic achievements.

English giants Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham backed out of the project within 48 hours, however, following widespread condemnation and furore.

Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona, and Italian kings Juventus, however, are still pushing for an ESL.

Reichart says the new ESL would contain 60 to 80 teams, each guaranteed a minimum of 14 matches per season, and they would continue to play in their domestic leagues.

A22 has confirmed that it has been engaged in “comprehensive dialogue with stakeholders across Europe on the future of club football”.

“Our talks have also made it clear that clubs often find it impossible to speak out publicly against a system that uses the threat of sanctions to thwart opposition,” Reichart added.

“Our dialogue was open, honest, constructive and resulted in clear ideas about what changes are needed and how they could be implemented.

“There is a lot to do and we will continue our dialogue.”

Despite Barca and Real’s known interest, La Liga president Javier Tebas has been a critic of the ESL idea, and denounced these latest proposals.

“The Super League is the wolf, who today disguises himself as a granny to try to fool European football,” he wrote on social media.

“But his nose and his teeth are very big, four divisions in Europe?

“Of course the first for them, as in the 2019 reform.

“Governed by the clubs? Of course only the big ones.”

Last year, Uefa approved changes to the Champions League meaning the number of teams in the group stage will rise from 32 to 36 in the 2024-25 competition.

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