European Super League 2.0: Which teams would qualify right now? | OneFootball

Following a botched launch back in April 2021, a second attempt at launching a European Super League was revealed on Thursday morning.

The original plans - which were initially backed by 12 of Europe's biggest teams - included no prospect of relegation or promotion, meaning that founder members would become permanent members of the competition.

Six Premier League clubs originally agreed to join the project. Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal were all set to be part of the powerhouse division.

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The remaining six places were to be filled by Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan.

Any chance of the proposal succeeding, though, was quickly stomped out by angry fans, and it wasn't long until all six teams from the English top-flight were forced to withdraw their support.

Soon after, organisers were forced to suspend the project, with the weight of public opinion against them simply too great to continue.

Understandably, FIFA and UEFA weren't too happy either, threatening legal action and sanctions against any club that tried to join the league.

However, a little under two years later, a revamped proposal is on the table.

This time around, a structure featuring as many as 80 teams from around Europe has been put forward by A22 Sports Management.

Per the Daily Mail, A22 has been formed 'to both sponsor and assist in the creation of the European Super League'.

The company's CEO, Bernd Reichart, argued on Thursday that European football 'is at a tipping point with huge imbalances emerging across the continent'.

Reichart believes the revived European Super League will help to address those imbalances.

What format is the European Super League expected to take?

Details are limited at this early stage, but participating clubs would be guaranteed 14 matches per season in the new competition, which is one more than the winner of the Champions League would usually play.

Crucially, the multi-tiered format would also feature promotion and relegation between divisions, ensuring that sides retain their place in the competition solely on merit.

Which teams would qualify if the European Super League started right now?

Again, we don't have much to go on here. However, if we take A22 at its word that the competition will be merit-based, it stands to reason that each of the top 80 sides in Europe would be invited to take part.

With that in mind, The Athletic - using data from FiveThirtyEight - has put together a graphic showing the best 80 teams from across the continent.

You check it out below.

Which Premier League teams could miss out on the European Super League?

As it stands today, Everton, Bournemouth and Southampton could find themselves without an invite, as could former two-time European Cup winners, Nottingham Forest.

With 16 potential entrants, the Premier League would currently have more representatives than any other domestic league.

La Liga (15 teams), Bundesliga (14), Serie A (10) and Ligue 1 (9) are the next most-represented competitions.

Both Rangers and Celtic would make the cut from the Scottish Premier League, but there would be no place for reigning Greek champions Olympiacos.

How likely are Premier League teams to join the European Super League?

Let's face it. Without the involvement of England's top sides, the new competition loses a lot of its appeal.

The six Premier League teams who originally supported the competition under its first guise have already coughed up £22 million in the form of a 'goodwill gesture' after trying to break away from the top-flight - and could face further fines and points deductions if they try to do so again.

However, the goal of A22 seems to be only to disrupt UEFA-sponsored competitions, such as the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League.

Under these new proposals, domestic football would be set to continue unaffected, something that could well change how the Premier League feels about the new venture.

If the rest of Europe's top clubs opt to choose the Super League over the Champions League, Premier League participation would surely be inevitable.