Real Madrid News
Real Madrid planning to sue UEFA for €4.5 billion after court ruling – report
In a breaking update, AS relay that Real Madrid and the company promoting the Super League, A22, are planning on filing a massive lawsuit against UEFA.
This comes after the Provincial Court of Madrid ruled in favour of the Super League in the dispute against UEFA, La Liga, and the RFEF earlier this week.
A22 and Real Madrid claim that the organisation must ‘compensate for the damages suffered’ by them and all parties involved in the Super League.
The amount they demand is no meagre sum either as they claim damages of up to €4.5 billion – a colossal amount that reflects the gravity of the situation as they claim reputational damage and a loss of profit.
The root of the situation
Real Madrid was one of the founding members behind the idea of the Super League as a new competition challenging UEFA’s Champions League and their authority over elite football.
The idea was to start a competition where participating clubs gain more directly from both television rights and ticket sales.
UEFA held over a dozen meetings with the team responsible for the Super League with the reported intention of reaching a mutual agreement that would allow for such a competition to be born.
After all, it is only in compliance with the Court of Justice of the European Union that UEFA cannot misuse their dominant position to impediment free competition.
All the meetings, however, were fruitless and Real Madrid and A22 now claim that UEFA never had any intention of reaching an agreement and participated in the meetings only to delay the formation of the competition and find a way to prevent it from coming to life.
The question now, is the legal precedent the lawyers will follow to ensure the success of the lawsuit, something that is not completely impossible given that there is a real claim to damages.
Real Madrid News
Mourinho reacts to Vinicius suspension: “Why announce it two hours before an important match?”
Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has questioned the RFEF Disciplinary Committee’s decision to announce Vinicius Jr.’s four-match suspension just hours before their UEFA Champions League meeting with AS Roma on Wednesday.
The Brazilian has been hit with a four-match ban for his red card against Villarreal, meaning he will miss the matches against Sevilla, Barcelona, Racing Santander, and Valencia.
And, speaking to Movistar+ (h/t MARCA) before the match, the Real Madrid manager was asked whether the punishment could affect the Brazilian psychologically.
Mourinho instead turned his attention to the football authorities and the timing of their announcement.
“I think that is a question for the Committee. Why have they announced the suspension at this particular moment? If you are asking me this question, it is presumably because you think it could affect him,” the Portuguese coach replied.
“You should ask the Committee why they did not announce it this morning, or tomorrow morning. Why do they do it two hours before a match that is important for Real Madrid, which is a Spanish club?” he added, questioning the timing of the decision.
Mourinho explains his tactical approach against Roma
The Real Madrid manager also outlined his plan for facing a Roma side known for their aggressive pressing.
“My intention is to stop them from pressing us so high up the pitch, given the players we have available and as a precaution,” he said.
Continuing, the Portuguese manager added: “They press man-to-man higher up the pitch better than anyone else, and we will see whether we can take advantage of that. If not, they will have to drop their press five or ten metres.”
Why Rudiger over Huijsen
Mourinho also justified his decision to start Antonio Rudiger at centre-back alongside Ibrahima Konate rather than Dean Huijsen.
“They played very well together in the last match, Rudiger and Konate, showing great leadership and the ability to withstand a difficult situation when we had ten men for 30 minutes,” he said.
“I am not saying Dean is not capable of playing a match like this, but this is a wonderful atmosphere for Roma and a difficult one for us. I think a player with Antonio’s experience can be important,” Mourinho added.
Finally, Mourinho was asked about his emotions ahead of returning to face Roma, the club he managed between 2021 and 2024.
The Portuguese coach offered a brief response, saying that he had his feelings about the occasion “blocked”.
