Celtic and Rangers on Champions League red alert as Florentino Perez makes final Super League gambit

Florentino Perez has declared football is "ill" as he attempts to revive the failed European Super League as an alternative to the Champions League.

The closed shop league has long been the dream of the Real Madrid president but the move appeared to be over after Barcelona, English Premier League giants Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham as well as Atletico Madrid, Inter and Milan all pulled out of the maligned project. However, Perez appears undeterred in his vision to reshape European football as he used Los Blancos' General Assembly as a chance to pitch the division once again.

He fired back at critics of the Super League as he ripped apart the current set-up of the Champions League as he insisted the likes of Liverpool and Real Madrid regularly facing off, who have met twice in the last five Champions League finals, would attract more interest in the game from a younger generation. The 75-year-old compared the meeting to tennis greats Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer facing off on a massive stage.

Both champions Celtic and Scottish Premiership runners-up Rangers have played two group games in this season’s competition and the winners of this season’s title are set to qualify automatically again next season. The Champions League is already set for a major revamp for 2024 with the competition expanding from 32 teams to 36 and playing in a single league and UEFA are continually looking at ways to improve it.

However, in Perez's vision the smaller nations and domestic competitions would be sidelined allow more heavyweight side to regularly face off. He declared: "Our beloved sport is ill, losing global leadership. The young people are increasingly less interested, a trend to