Both the UEFA Champions League and Europa League have entered the semi-final stage before the announcement of the European Super League that has rocked the football community. Despite threats from UEFA, The ESL teams which are in the semi-finals of both competitions will be allowed to complete the tournaments.

Five of the eight semi-finalists in this season's Champions League and Europa League would have been kicked out if UEFA stood its ground. In the Champions League, only Paris Saint-Germain would be left in the competition. They are set to face Manchester City in the semi-finals, while the other side of the bracket contains Real Madrid and Chelsea. These three teams are founding members of the ESL.

Meanwhile, English clubs Manchester United and Arsenal will also be allowed to continue their bid for this season's Europa League title.

UEFA had earlier threatened to sanction these clubs and reports emerged that they would be kicked out of the ongoing European competitions. However, Marca has confirmed that the current campaigns will continue as planned.

The postponed European Championship will also be affected after UEFA threatened national team bans for players who will participate in the ESL with their respective clubs.

The event has been rescheduled to June and July this summer, and it remains to be seen if UEFA can find a compromise with the ESL before then. To be clear, the ESL is not forbidding players from fulfilling their national team duties.

ESL and Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has assured players and fans that their clubs won't be kicked out of this year's European competitions. In fact, he even boldly claimed that Los Blancos will win their 14th Champions League title this season.

Criticism has poured in from across the globe, with many claiming that the "rich" teams are only thinking of their own financial gain while leaving the rest to the dust. On the contrary, Perez says that the aim of the ESL is to bring quality football on a more regular basis and to help clubs both big and small attain more financial stability. He emphasised that even the domestic leagues and smaller clubs will benefit from the financial windfall.

The European Super League champions are expected to earn almost 400 million euros in prize money. It is a big jump compared to the 120 million euros that UEFA is offering to the winners of the Champions League.

Real Madrid
Record 13-time European champions Real Madrid are one of the founding members
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