The Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ which include Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham have all agreed to join a breakaway European Super League.
The new format will rival the UEFA Champions League, but the teams will still be involved in their various domestic leagues.
The six English clubs will be joined by AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid.
Three more clubs could join for the inaugural season which will commence “as soon as practicable”.
According to a joint statement released last night by the clubs involved, this is what the proposed competition will look like:
“20 participating clubs with 15 Founding Clubs and a qualifying mechanism for a further five teams to qualify annually based on achievements in the prior season.
“Midweek fixtures with all participating clubs continuing to compete in their respective national leagues, preserving the traditional domestic match calendar which remains at the heart of the club game.
“An August start with clubs participating in two groups of ten, playing home and away fixtures, with the top three in each group automatically qualifying for the quarter-finals.
“Teams finishing fourth and fifth will then compete in a two-legged play-off for the remaining quarter-final positions. A two-leg knockout format will be used to reach the final at the end of May, which will be staged as a single fixture at a neutral venue.”
