How the mighty hath fallen: Super League ‘giants’ fail to make Champions League cut

October 27 – In a week when talk of a much-maligned European Super League once again raised its ugly head, five of the clubs that signed up for the original concept have failed to reach the knockout stage of the Champions League – including two of the three big guns who are determined to make sure the breakaway project still goes ahead.

Barcelona and Atletico Madrid were both dumped out of the group stage on Wednesday night, joining Juventus, who were also eliminated 24 hours earlier.

That means that five of the original 12 clubs who signed up for the ESL project and who competed in this season’s Champions League will not feature in the knockout stage. It could even stretch to seven by the end of the group stage, with Tottenham Hotspur and AC Milan also far from certain to go through.

Real Madrid, Barca and Juve have yet to give up on the Super League project which has gone to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for a ruling, but two of them have now been demoted to the Europa League, hardly the ideal message in terms of trying to promote the idea that a Super League would benefit the game and that they deserve to be a part of it.

The embarrassment on the field is also a financial hit for Juve and Barca, who each reported record losses this year and will no longer be able to accrue vital revenue. Both missed out the €9.6 million in prize money that UEFA awards clubs who reach the round of 16.

Barca’s fate was sealed when they were thumped 3-0 at home by Bayern Munich, ensuring their second straight relegation to the Europa League after 17 consecutive years making the knockout phase of Europe’s elite competition.

And Atletico Madrid missed out on a last-16 spot after missing a late penalty in a 2-2 draw with Bayer Leverkusen.

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