
Barcelona Looking to ‘Build Bridges’ with UEFA and PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi After Abandoning Controversial Super League Project
Joan Laporta’s Barcelona Are Trying to Reconnect with European Football’s Powerbrokers After the Super League Saga
For more than a century, Barcelona has been one of football’s most influential institutions — a club built on ideals, history, and global reach. But in 2021, when the European Super League was announced, that image was shaken to its core. Alongside 11 other elite clubs, Barça stood at the heart of a project that promised financial security but threatened to tear the soul out of European football.
Now, years later, Barcelona is carefully trying to “build bridges” again — with UEFA, with the European Football Clubs (EFC) president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and with the wider football community it once alienated.
President Joan Laporta has made reconciliation a priority, attending high-level meetings and sending clear signals that the club is ready to work with Europe’s governing bodies rather than against them. It’s a move as political as it is strategic — and one that could define Barcelona’s next era off the pitch.
The Super League: A Project That Shook European Football
April 2021 is a month football will never forget. Twelve of Europe’s biggest clubs — including Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Juventus and others — announced plans to form the European Super League.
The pitch was simple: guaranteed spots for founding members, massive revenues for the elite, and the promise of reshaping European club football into a more “predictable” competition for investors and broadcasters. The numbers were staggering — more than €10 billion in projected solidarity payments and bonuses.
But football isn’t just business. Within hours of the announcement, a storm erupted. Fans protested, governments condemned, UEFA and FIFA threatened sanctions, and players and managers voiced their disgust.
For supporters across the continent, the ESL felt like a betrayal — a closed shop designed to protect the rich and leave everyone else behind. For many, it represented everything football should not be.
Backlash and Broken Trust
The backlash was unlike anything European football had seen in decades. Fans outside stadiums in England, Spain, Italy and elsewhere made their feelings clear with banners, protests and global campaigns. Politicians quickly stepped in. Broadcasters questioned their support.
Within 48 hours, the dream of the ESL had turned into a nightmare. Most of the founding clubs pulled out, issuing statements apologising to supporters and acknowledging their mistake. Barcelona, however, under Laporta’s leadership, stood firm alongside Real Madrid, arguing that football’s financial model was unsustainable and that reform was necessary.
But the damage was done. UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin called the organisers “snakes” in one of the most fiery press conferences in modern football history. The trust between UEFA and several top clubs was shattered.
Barcelona Shifts Its Strategy

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Fast forward to today, and the tone in Barcelona is very different. The club’s financial problems are well documented. From massive debt to wage cuts and restructuring, Barça has spent years firefighting off the pitch.
What was once seen as a bold Super League gamble has become an anchor weighing the club down diplomatically. With legal battles fading and UEFA emerging even stronger, Laporta knows that Barcelona cannot afford to be an outsider in Europe anymore.
Recently, Laporta attended a high-level meeting in Rome organised by PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi — who now leads the EFC, formerly known as the ECA. It was a symbolic and practical step toward reconciliation.
“Nasser, the president of the EFC, invited us. We graciously accepted; there’s a very good relationship,” Laporta said. “With FC Barcelona, we’re in favour of pacifying European football; we want an agreement and a return to UEFA. By coming here, we want to build rapport and for this agreement to be reached. They’re behaving very well, they’re showing us a lot of respect. We have to do everything necessary to reach an agreement. Barça is on this path; it was our role to build bridges, both with Nasser and Ceferin.”
Those words may not sound explosive, but in the context of recent history, they are monumental. A president who once championed a breakaway is now actively seeking common ground.
Nasser Al-Khelaifi and UEFA’s Consolidated Power
In the wake of the Super League’s collapse, one man emerged with significantly more power than before: Nasser Al-Khelaifi.
As president of Paris Saint-Germain, chairman of the EFC, and a close ally of UEFA’s Ceferin, Al-Khelaifi has become a key powerbroker in European football. His resistance to the ESL from day one — combined with PSG’s refusal to join the project — positioned him as a defender of the “traditional” system.
For Barcelona, this makes him a crucial ally to win back. Restoring trust with Al-Khelaifi and UEFA isn’t just about good relations; it’s about securing a stable place in the ecosystem of European competitions, sponsorships, and financial distribution.
Lessons Learned from the Super League
The Super League wasn’t just a failed business plan. It was a watershed moment that exposed the tension between sporting merit and commercial power in football.
Figures like Jurgen Klopp and Sir Alex Ferguson spoke out strongly at the time. Klopp warned that altering the competition to benefit only a few would “destroy what makes football beautiful.” Ferguson, a man who spent decades dominating Europe with Manchester United, called it a betrayal of the sport’s history and a step away from 70 years of open competition.
UEFA’s Ceferin was even more direct. He accused ESL organisers of treating supporters as consumers, football as a product, and competitions as vehicles for greed. That speech resonated widely and, arguably, permanently damaged the reputations of clubs like Barcelona and Juventus.
This is why Laporta’s charm offensive matters. If Barcelona wants to fully return to the European football table, it needs to rebuild credibility, not just relationships.
A Rebrand of Barcelona’s Image

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It’s not lost on anyone that this “bridge-building” comes at a time when Barcelona faces mounting financial pressures. Revenue targets are ambitious, player salaries remain high, and the reconstruction of Camp Nou is an expensive long-term project.
The club is trying to sell a story of renewal — sporting, financial, and diplomatic. By realigning with UEFA and the EFC, Barcelona can improve its bargaining position for commercial deals, Champions League negotiations, and governance discussions.
This isn’t about giving up their ambitions, but about playing the game smarter. Rather than trying to create an alternative power structure, Laporta seems to have realised that working inside the system might be the best way to safeguard the club’s future.
A Different Kind of Power Game
European football has always been political. From UEFA’s Financial Fair Play policies to the growing influence of state-owned clubs, every major decision is negotiated, not simply decided.
Barcelona, historically a political and cultural institution as much as a football club, knows how to navigate these waters. Reaching out to Al-Khelaifi and Ceferin is not just an act of humility — it’s also a strategic recalibration.
The club understands that rebuilding its image will take time. But every meeting, every public statement, every handshake counts.
Football Moves On, But It Doesn’t Forget
The Super League saga may be in the rear-view mirror, but its impact still shapes European football. UEFA introduced a new Champions League format. Domestic leagues strengthened their legal positions. Fans proved they could mobilise and win.
Barcelona, once one of the faces of the rebellion, is now quietly trying to rewrite its role in the story. Instead of being remembered as the architects of a failed coup, they hope to be seen as partners in rebuilding a stronger, more cooperative European game.
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