Champions League Disaster Is Why FC Barcelona, Juventus Chase European Super League

Wednesday night was exactly the sort of evening Andrea Agnelli wants to avoid.

The Juventus chairman saw his team suffer a surprise 2-0 defeat to Israeli club Maccabi Haifa in the group stage of the Champions League. It leaves Juventus on the brink of exiting European soccer’s most prestigious club competition before the knockout stage.

For Joan Laporta, president of FC Barcelona, the situation looks just as bleak. The Catalan giant drew 3-3 with Inter Milan and is almost certain to drop into the second-tier Europa League.

Upsets like this are what makes the Champions League – certainly in the group stage – interesting. They are also a large part of the reason FC Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid continue to push for a European Super League (ESL).

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A report in The Telegraph last week claimed the owners of the three clubs will renew efforts to launch the breakaway competition. They are already pursuing its creation through the courts. In December, the European Court of Justice will issue a non-binding opinion on the legality of the ESL.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez told the club’s AGM this month that soccer “is sick” while pushing the case for a ESL. Laporta said the ESL is a “necessity” to compete with “state-owned clubs”.

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It is no coincidence that the renewed campaign for the ESL comes as FC Barcelona and Juventus face financial issues. Juventus announced a record $246 million loss in September while Barcelona has resorted to selling stakes in club assets to finance new player signings.

The two clubs would have been counting on going deep in the Champions League to bring in much-needed revenue. Instead, it seems likely both will have to settle for the reduced riches on offer in the Europa League.

A ESL would remove the jeopardy that occasionally sees bigger teams lose to smaller rivals. There would be no Maccabi Haifa. There would be no Club Brugge, the Belgian club that beat Atletico Madrid (another ESL founder member) on the way to the top of its Champions League group.

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Rather, the ESL would be the biggest clubs (or, more accurately, the biggest at this point in soccer history) playing each other on repeat.

Proponents, like Agnelli, Laporta and Perez, say this is what fans – especially younger ones – want. The biggest teams playing against one another more regularly. The best soccer stars going head-to-head on a weekly basis.

The idea is this would be equally appealing to broadcasters and investors. The investment bank JP Morgan committed €3.25 billion ($3.16bn) to the ESL when it was first proposed in April, 2021.

Yet while it would supposedly provide some financial certainty, a ESL wouldn’t necessarily improve on-field performances for FC Barcelona and Juventus. They would still lose matches.

The difference is those defeats would be against rivals of a similar dimension. There is no disgrace in losing to Bayern Munich or Manchester City, especially when you know you’ll soon have a chance to seek revenge.

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A defeat you’re half-expecting is better than one you never saw coming.