- 24 Dec 2024
Why Juventus crisis hurts Barcelona and Real Madrid
James Shearman
- Updated: 23 May 2023 09:00 CDT
- 3 min read
The resignation of Juventus' board members spells bad news for La Liga clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona.
The trio are in favour of the European Super League, which made headlines last year, but that could soon change.
The former Juve board, especially president Andrea Agnelli, were firm believers in the project.
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But with the Old Lady forced to appoint a new board, the their support of the Super League could diminish.
That could leave just Barcelona and Real Madrid as the teams pushing for the Champions League alternative, significantly reducing the chances of it happening.
What was the Super League?
The European Super League was meant to be a breakaway competition that was set to include 20 of the biggest football clubs on the continent.
It is understood that around 15 of these teams would have been permanent members who could not be relegated, while another five would have been able to qualify for the annual tournament.
The Super League was intended to represent an alternative to the current club competitions organised by European football’s governing body, UEFA.
These UEFA continental competitions date back to the 1950s, but the future of the Champions League, Europa League and the newly-formed UEFA Europa Conference League seemed under threat.
🚨 UEFA has opened a formal investigation into Juventus for alleged breaches of Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play regulations. CFCB (Club Financial Control Body) First Chamber will “focus on alleged financial violations that were recently made public” by Turin prosecutors.
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) December 1, 2022
The teams who would have been part of the Super League would’ve been likely banned from participating in the UEFA-organised tournaments.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez (pictured below with Gareth Bale) was due to hold the chairman’s position for the Super League.
Man Utd’s Joel Glazer and Juventus’ Andrea Agnelli were announced as vice-chairmens before the league’s demise.
Which teams were in the Super League?
There were 12 teams who signed up for the Super League. The so-called big six of the Premier League; Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool; the big three in Spain of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid; and the big three in Italy of Juventus, Inter and AC Milan.
It is understood that Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain were all invited to be part of the Super League but all Bundesliga and Ligue 1 clubs refused to be part of the breakaway tournament.
