In a move that sends shockwaves through the corridors of European football—though perhaps comes as little surprise to those watching the political maneuvering of recent months—FC Barcelona has officially withdrawn from the European Super League.
The announcement, made early Saturday morning, confirms what many feared and others predicted: Real Madrid is now the solitary founding club left standing in the fight against the UEFA monopoly. Our greatest rivals, who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Florentino Pérez through the storms of 2021, the legal battles of 2023, and the rebranding efforts of A22, have finally folded.
The Collapse of an Alliance
“FC Barcelona informs that today it has formally communicated its withdrawal,” the statement read. Dry, corporate, and final. With those words, the uneasy alliance between Laporta and Pérez has fractured.
For Madridistas, this moment is complex. On the pitch, we want nothing more than to see Barcelona fail. But in the boardrooms, they were the last remaining shieldmate in a war that Florentino Pérez declared was necessary to “save football.”
We remember April 2021. Twelve clubs. The elite of Europe. One by one, they fell away. First, the Premier League six—buckling under pressure from politicians and media. Then the Italians. Then Atlético. Juventus held on until 2023 before they too succumbed. For the last three years, it has been El Clásico against the world. Now, it is just Real Madrid against the world.
What Now for the “Unify League”?
The timing is particularly stinging. It was only in November 2025—just a few months ago—that A22 formally requested UEFA’s pre-approval for the new “Unify League” concept. The vision had evolved significantly from the closed-shop model of 2021. The new proposal was meritocratic: a four-tier, 96-team competition with promotion, relegation, and crucially, free TV coverage for fans.
It was a vision designed to break the stranglehold of legacy organizations and give power back to the clubs. But can such a revolution exist with only one general leading the army?
The Burden of the Crown
This leaves Florentino Pérez in a position he arguably knows best: standing alone, defiant in the face of overwhelming odds. Critics will say the project is dead. They will say Real Madrid must come crawling back to Ceferin and UEFA.
But those critics don’t know the DNA of this club. Real Madrid does not crawl.
If this truly is the end of the Super League project, it marks a significant chapter in football history where Real Madrid was the only institution brave enough—or stubborn enough—to hold the line until the bitter end. We are the Kings of Europe, not because we follow the crowd, but because we lead. Whether this specific project survives Barcelona’s exit remains to be seen, but the underlying issues of football’s financial sustainability haven’t gone away just because the other clubs gave up the fight.
We stand alone. But when you are Real Madrid, standing alone is just business as usual.