Five of European Super League’s ‘original 12’ not in Champions League knockouts

Five of the 'original 12' that wanted to set up the European Super League will not be taking part in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Manchester United and Arsenal were part of the big-club cartel ready to throw football into disrepute by disbanding from their domestic leagues to set up an elitist European competition that would see them only play each other. It would also mean that those regarded as smaller than them would have been excluded.

Yet not a single one of them will have the chance to win the Champions League this season after either dropping out at the group stage or not even qualifying for the competition in the first place.

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AC Milan and Tottenham, who were also part of the 12 teams, have perilous positions as well with their fates being decided on the final group stage game next week.

It only goes to further bolster the fact that UEFA's competition remains the top prize while also underlining the fact that those self-proclaimed big clubs are not the top teams that they think they are.

Barcelona, in particular, have had a nightmare after finding out their fate before even kicking a ball on Wednesday night. Inter Milan, another team involved in the European Super League fiasco, beat Viktoria Plzen which meant that they and Bayern Munich qualified from their group.

The German giants only added to Barca's misery by spanking them 3-0 at the Nou Camp, where Robert Lewandowski moved to after forcing through a transfer from the Bundesliga champions.

Juventus chief Andrea Agnelli has been particularly vocal over his support of the European Super League but his side have been shocking throughout the Champions League.

Not only are they currently eighth in Serie A but they have lost four of their five clashes in Europe – including a 2-0 defeat to Maccabi Haifa.

Only their 3-1 win over the Israel outfit spared them from finishing bottom of their group – but that could change when Juve face Paris Saint-Germain next week in their final match.

United and Arsenal might have big plans to win the Europa League but if they had it their way, they would be competing in the European Super League which would prevent them from taking part in a secondary competition.

Instead, with no risk of relegation – they would continually play the same games over and over again with no danger or jeopardy.

And after another night of Champions League drama, do they really think that is what fans want?

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