Barcelona officially confirms European Super League exit

FC Barcelona has officially quit the controversial European Super League project, a dramatic end to nearly five years of speculation and debate over a competition that once threatened to upend the structure of European club football.

In a formal announcement on Saturday 7th February, 2026, Barcelona confirmed that the club has informed the European Super League Company and all other participating teams of its decision to withdraw from the project.

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The European Super League was first unveiled in April 2021 by a group of Europe’s most prestigious clubs. Its goal was to create a new elite competition to rival and potentially replace UEFA’s Champions League, offering guaranteed participation for founding clubs and larger revenues.

The original plan brought together 12 founding members, including six Premier League sides, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, alongside Italian giants Inter, AC Milan and Juventus, and Spanish heavyweights Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid.

However, the project imploded almost as soon as it was announced. Widespread backlash from fans, football authorities and political figures, particularly in England, led all six Premier League clubs to withdraw within days, claiming that the breakaway league would undermine the sport’s competitive integrity.

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In the months and years that followed, other founding members also stepped away: Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus all publicly distanced themselves from the Super League, leaving just Barcelona and Real Madrid as the last remaining clubs associated with the plan.

With Barcelona’s departure, Real Madrid now stands alone as the only club still publicly tied to the European Super League idea. Barcelona’s shift reflects broader developments in European football. The club’s leadership, including president Joan Laporta has increasingly signalled a desire to repair relations with UEFA, the governing body that oversees Europe’s mainstream competitions. 

In October 2025, Laporta explicitly said that Barcelona sees “a way forward for the clubs in the Super League to return to UEFA,” and that the club wanted “peace” within European football.UEFA has also introduced reforms to the Champions League, including expanded formats and greater revenue sharing, which some clubs, including Barcelona see as addressing key concerns that initially fuelled interest in a breakaway competition.

Over the years, promoters behind the Super League, including Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez, attempted to revive the concept with new formats. Reports say that, in 2024, proposals were put forward for a larger, tiered competition called the Unify League, with up to 96 clubs split into divisions.

But none of these plans ultimately gained sufficient support.According to reports, legal battles also played a role. In late 2024 and 2025, European courts issued rulings touching on UEFA’s authority to block new competitions, with promoters seeking billions in damages.

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Despite the legal wrangling, the Super League never materialised as a functioning tournament.Barcelona’s exit is widely seen as another major blow to the viability of the Super League concept.

With Real Madrid remaining the only backer, the future of the project, in any form appears uncertain. Many in the football world now believe the era of the breakaway league is effectively over.