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UEFA Champions League

The idea of replacing the Champions League with a European Super League in its place has been in contention for a long time now and some of the biggest clubs in Europe are said to be part of this blueprint.

The likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona have been wanting to break away from the two sanctioned European leagues and form a new league of their own – something which will only have the powerhouses(namely from the Premier League and the other top leagues in Europe).

This idea has been proposed several times over the past decades but up until now, there has no real movement in this path.

The recent pandemic though has changed the stances of several clubs with many of them eager to be part of the European Super League. And now it seems like the new elite league could very well turn into a reality after Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez recently backed the idea during the club’s recent AGM.

Perez said, as per AS: “Things will, never be the same again. The [coronavirus] pandemic has changed everything. It has made us all more vulnerable and that includes the football world. Football needs formulas to make it more competitive and exciting.

“This club has been a part of every innovation and has protected these innovations in our sport. It was the only club to be a founding member of FIFA in 1904, together with seven national federations.

“In 1955, L’Équipe and Real Madrid were the driving forces behind the creation of the European Cup – a revolutionary moment that changed the history of the game.”

“Without all these changes, football wouldn’t have become what it is today – and we need a new change. Football has to face up to this new period […]. Reform of the game cannot wait; we have to tackle it. We have the responsibility to fight for this change.”

Many big clubs in Europe have been willing to accept the invitation to the new league primarily since it will rope in huge amounts of money for the participating clubs. And according to the updated reports the new league will also be backed by FIFA.

This sanction from the governing body means more teams will be inclined towards joining the European Super League but as per Deportivo Carrusel, the new league, if it happens, will replace the existing Champions League.

If this is true then it will be a massive blow for the teams who will not be part of the ESL since the monetary disparity between them and the elite clubs will grow even further.

After the pandemic, a large number of clubs struggling to make ends meet and in such a scenario if the Champions League is scrapped then many clubs might fade into oblivion.

Obviously, the governing bodies will try and slot these clubs into another league but the reality is they will never be able to generate handsome sums of money if teams like Man United, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona do not come to town.

German international Toni Kroos has been pretty vocal against this new idea and if the European Super League is truly going to replace the existing Champions League then we are confident other players will stand up against it in the future as well.