Barcelona announce exit from Superleague – Real Madrid left

Barcelona have announced that they are formally leaving The Superleague project, leaving Real Madrid as the last remaining side backing the idea. The project, which was initially announced in 2021 with 12 teams, has been down to just the Clasico duo for some time.

Following the exit of the six Premier League teams that were involved initially, the Italian sides were followed by Atletico Madrid, and finally Juventus the year after. Intense fan protests in England kicked off the exits, and Juventus decided it was not in their best interests.

Barcelona announce exit from Superleague

Barcelona have now released an official statement, declaring that they will no longer form part of the competition. It leaves Real Madrid and organizers A22 as the only remaining integrants. A short statement did not give further reasons for their decision to do so.

Barcelona hereby announces that today it has formally notified the European Super League Company and the clubs involved of its withdrawal from the European Super League project

Distance between Barcelona and Real Madrid

This is the latest step in the distance growing between Real Madrid and Barcelona, and in the latter’s case, the strengthening of their relationship with UEFA. At the same time, Real Madrid have been more vocal in their pursuit of punishment for Barcelona in the Negreira case, as the Catalan side face charges of sporting corruption.

In October, Barcelona President Joan Laporta had already intimated that they would not continue as part of the Superleague, noting they were in favour of peace across European football.

“Barcelona are for the pacification of European football. We want there to be an agreement and we go back to UEFA. This is what all the clubs want. We also come here to generate good harmony and to be able to reach this agreement.”

In December, Laporta would then claim that his counterpart Florentino Perez was only targeting Barcelona over the Negreira case due to their stance on the Superleague. Real Madrid continue to advocate for a free to view Superleague, in which European competition would involve a reduced top ‘league’ of 18 sides, with promotion and relegation between three different divisions.