Barcelona withdraw from European Super League project

Barcelona have formally withdrawn from the European Super League project, leaving Real Madrid as the sole remaining signatory to the breakaway league proposal. The announcement, posted on the club’s website, ends three-and-a-half years of defiance that began when 12 elite clubs attempted to split from Uefa competitions in April 2021.

“FC 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,” the brief statement read.

The reigning La Liga champions, currently leading their domestic table and through to the Champions League last 16, had resisted mounting pressure to abandon the venture even after the competition’s initial collapse. Within 72 hours of the original unveiling, the six English clubs involved—Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham—pulled out amid furious supporter protests. Juventus, the tenth club to exit, finally withdrew in June 2024, leaving Barcelona and Real Madrid to press ahead through the courts.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta signalled a strategic pivot in October 2025, revealing the club’s desire to “re-establish links with Uefa” and rejoin the European Football Clubs (EFC), the body formerly known as the European Clubs Association. All 10 clubs that previously withdrew have since been reinstated; Barcelona’s expulsion had barred them from ECA forums and commercial opportunities.

While Barcelona step back, Real Madrid continue their legal offensive. The Spanish giants are pursuing “substantial damages” from Uefa after Madrid’s commercial court ruled in May 2024 that Fifa and Uefa had engaged in anti-competitive behaviour. The case, brought by A22 Sports Management—the company promoting the Super League—forced Uefa to rewrite its authorisation rules for new competitions, though governing bodies insist the judgments do not legitimise the breakaway league.

Industry observers regard Barcelona’s retreat as the final curtain for a project widely derided as badly conceived and commercially unworkable. Without English clubs, German clubs or Paris St-Germain, the closed-shop model struggled for credibility. A relaunch attempt at the end of 2024, rebranded as the 96-team Unify League, failed to secure elite support after details emerged of a top division limited to just 16 sides.

With Barcelona’s departure, Real Madrid stand alone, battling on in court for a competition that, in practice, died the moment the Premier League withdrew five years ago.