Staff Reporter
In just a short few days, the European Super League went from being announced to shelved and left for another day as the backlash from fans and media proved to be too strong. 12 clubs from Europe, three from La Liga, attempted to create an almost closed shop with the new league, choosing where the big money would go and cutting out the rest.
Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid were the three teams from La Liga to sign up and signal their intention to play in the European Super League, a move that would have been very bad for La Liga. The entire competitiveness of the league would have been in doubt, which affects fans of all clubs and even those who bet on Spanish football using betting offers online to place their bets.
What Did the European Super League Want to Do?
The European Super League wanted to effectively replace the Champions League with an almost closed shop, so the big teams could all play each other every season and share the money between them.
Initially the plan was to go with 20 teams, 15 founding teams who would always get a place, regardless of performance, with five qualifiers making up the numbers. The Spanish government rightly slammed those plans, saying it would have a huge impact on La Liga, and would be bad for the game in Europe as a whole.
What makes football great is competition and the fact that everyone has a chance to win. Yes, the big teams in Spain dominate La Liga, and usually get the European spots.
However, despite this, at least everyone else does have a chance to win and get involved, by going down this road, that can no longer be said about La Liga, which would be disappointing for fans in the country.
How Would La Liga Have Been Affected?
There are two main ways in which La Liga would have been affected. The first is the competitiveness of the league. With the European Super League estimating huge financial wins for the teams involved, those teams would have far more spending power and would be able to attract the best players in Spain and from anywhere else around the world.
The likes of Sevilla, who are trying to join the big three, would be far worse off financially than their bigger rivals, and whenever anything came down to money, Sevilla would lose out every time. This would lead to a league where the big three were the only possible winners of it, because there was such a gulf in quality between them and those behind them, even the teams finishing in the top half.
Secondly, there is a good chance that had this happened, the best players on the teams involved would all be saved for the European Super League, with those games having priority over La Liga games. This means the star names that we all love to watch would still be playing for Spanish clubs, but we wouldn’t see them play too often in La Liga, because teams would rest them ahead of big games in Europe.
Teams involved would have a lot more depth and would still have some excellent players to use in La Liga, but it would be a worry that the very best will not be seen too often. We all want to watch the best players play as often as possible, and La Liga would potentially miss out on this because of commitments to the Super League.
Will We Hear More about This in the Future?
The initial Super League press release came and really shocked the footballing world because although it has briefly been mentioned in the past, no one believed the plans would come true.
But now we have seen the intentions of the clubs involved, and their willingness to do something different, which will aid them more than other clubs. While the plans failed this time, it seems highly likely that we will hear about this league, or something very similar over the next few years.
There is still an appetite for something to happen, even if only the big clubs want it and no one else does. So, with that in mind, get ready to hear more about the European Super League, or whatever new name it is given, because although currently defeated, the expectation is that it will be back, and it may come back even stronger.
