Manchester United, Liverpool and four other English clubs withdrew from the Super League after their supporters opposed participation.
Barcelona and Real Madrid still have the plan to launch the competition, and these two sides will face the Red Devils and Jürgen Klopp’s side respectively in this season’s European competitions.
On Monday, UEFA carried out draws for all three European competitions, where Manchester United were pitted against Barca in the play-offs of the Europa League, while Liverpool will face Los Blancos in the last 16 of the Champions League.
ESPN journalist José Ramón Fernández took to Twitter to suggest the draw is UEFA’s ‘persecution’ against clubs who tried to form the Super League.
José Ramón Fernández further went on to rant against the sport’s governing body as he said Monday’s draw shows “there is a brutal UEFA mafia”.
Prosigue la persecución de la UEFA contra aquellos equipos que intentaron promover la Superliga. Real Madrid enfrentará, en febrero, al Liverpool en octavos de final de la Champions. En la Europa League el Barça irá contra el Manchester United.
En la UEFA hay una mafia BRUTAL.
— José Ramón Fernández (@joserra_espn) November 7, 2022
Earlier this year, Liverpool lost to Real Madrid in the Champions League final. It was their second final defeat at the hands of Los Blancos in recent years. The first one was in 2018.
Meanwhile, Barcelona vice president Rafa Yuste said the Blaugrana would have preferred a ‘more affordable’ opponent than Manchester United. The Catalan club’s sporting director, Jordi Cryuff, also shared his view on the draw.
“It is a spectacular tie with two of the biggest clubs in Europe and they are always fighting for everything. Their [United’s] history and stadium always make them a very fearsome rival,” he was quoted as saying by Sport.
