Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has asked his Barcelona counterpart Joan Laporta to abandon the “stupid” Super League, ahead of the Champions League quarter-final between the two clubs this month -this.
La Liga rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona are the only two clubs continuing to promote the Super League, after Italian club Juventus began the process of withdrawing from the project in July 2023.
The Super League was launched by 12 clubs in April 2021, but nine clubs – Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, Inter, Milan and Atletico Madrid – later withdrew their support following a backlash from their fans.
French club PSG, alongside German giants such as Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, had declared their strong opposition to the idea of the Super League from the start.
Al-Khelaifi, who is also president of the European Club Association (ECA) — the body that represents the interests of professional clubs within European football’s governing body, UEFA, which is not yet among his members the clubs that promote the Super League — has now spoken about how he broached the subject with Barcelona’s Laporta before their two clubs met in the Champions League quarter-final.
“I always said that the Super League would not exist,” Al-Khelaïfi said. The world.
“The Champions League is the best competition in the world for everyone, and these clubs (Barcelona and Real Madrid) play the Champions League because they know how important it is.”
Al-Kheliafi added that the ECA “continues to grow” without the buy-in of the two Spanish clubs, and said of his meeting with Laporta ahead of the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final: “I asked: ‘When are you going to give up on the stupid idea of the Super League? I’m sure he will give it up. It doesn’t make any sense.’
PSG won the quarter-final against Barcelona 6-4 on aggregate, to set up a semi-final against Borussia Dortmund. The other round of 16 match will see Real Madrid face Bayern Munich.
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