UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin declared European football must remain open to all clubs amid ongoing speculation concerning a breakaway Super League.
Although the majority of the Super League's founding members withdrew in the face of public and political pressure following a much-criticised launch last April, the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus remain committed to the project.
Florentino Perez, who was to be named Super League chairman, has continued to call for Europe's elite clubs to secede from UEFA, insisting the breakaway competition was "still alive" in June.
More recently, Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos backed the stance of the Blancos president by claiming: "It [the Super League] should have been in operation for a long time".
But Cerferin, speaking at the FPF Football Talks Portugal 2022, emphasised his confidence in the continental game's existing structure.
"Football, for sure, will stay open in our competition always. The essence of European football, which is by far the strongest football in the world, is that it's open," he said.
"What those people who think that only the elite play football don't understand is that even they would be much worse if they wouldn't have everyone competing.
"Last season we saw Sheriff [Tiraspol] from Moldova winning in Madrid against Real Madrid. If my Slovenian team with a budget of two million won against Tottenham, that's the essence of European football. It's part of our culture. It's part of our history and it will never change.
"It shouldn't change and what many people don't know is that UEFA returns in club football 93.5 per cent of all the revenues to the clubs, and altogether 97 per cent of all the revenues go back to the clubs.
"This is the most important part of football and that's why we are as successful as we are. I absolutely insist and will insist that the dream will stay alive for everyone."
One of the clubs' major motivations for looking to break away from UEFA, besides the ability to regulate their own competition, is to arrange more money-spinning contests against other elite sides.
Despite the Super League's demise, the participants are set to get their wish when the Champions League introduces an additional four group-stage matches for each team from the 2024-25 season.
That change has been met with fierce criticism from some quarters, with the busy nature of the football calendar already a major talking point.
While Ceferin acknowledged the challenges created by the schedule, he claimed a "balance" between player welfare and financial sustainability had been found, and pledged there were no further reforms planned.
"The calendar is very dense. I have to say it feels close to the limit probably. The thing is that clubs have to stay sustainable," he added.
"If clubs want to be sustainable, they have to have a certain amount or number of matches. Now, the ones who complain are mainly from the big clubs who really play more than the others, but from the other point of view, they have 25 top-class players.
"So the truth here is not black and white. I think we should seriously think about the number of matches, some think that two cups are too much. That's not the jurisdiction of UEFA to decide.
"But in principle, from one point of view clubs are saying that they want matches to get revenues so they can say sustainable. From the other point of view, some are complaining about too many matches.
"So we have to find a balance here. I think we did find it and we changed the competition post 2024. After that, I don't see any possibility of changing anything soon."
Meanwhile, Ceferin also highlighted his confidence the World Cup would make a return to Europe in 2030, backing a joint bid from Spain and Portugal.
"I see it as a winning bid. We will do whatever we can to help the bid. It's time for Europe to host the World Cup. Both countries are passionate about football," he said.
"You feel and you smell football in Spain and Portugal. The infrastructure is great.
"So we have some plans on how to help. I think, and I'm sure, that will have the World Cup in 2030 in Spain and Portugal."
Fonseca urges Milan to take more risks after lifeless Juventus draw
Paulo Fonseca urged Milan to take more risks in future and sympathised with the fans who booed his players after an unexciting goalless draw with Juventus.
The two sides played out a game that included just three shots on target - one fell to Milan and two to Juve - while a chorus of boos greeted the full-time whistle.
Milan have not scored in two home matches in a row in Serie A for the first time since October-November 2023 (vs Juventus and Udinese in that case).
"When you don't win, and after a match like this, maybe if I was a fan I'd do the same," Fonseca told DAZN.
"I'm not a defender of this and I understand the fans perfectly."
Milan's only real chance before the break came through Emerson Royal, who headed wide of the near post after a corner, while a weak Theo Hernandez header straight at Michele Di Gregorio in added time was their only effort on target.
They registered just two shots in the first half, and only three times before have they managed less (on record from 2004-05), with two of those instances also coming against Juve.
"It was a very tactical match. The team had too much respect for Juve and Juve too much respect for us," Fonseca said.
"We know that Juve defend very well, it is not easy to have opportunities against them and those we had to attack we did not exploit well.
"We could have done something more offensively, we made a mistake in the last pass and we never took risks. It is not easy against Juve, but when we have the opportunity, we have to do better in the final decisions.
"The team always had the will to play safe but, if we want to score, we have to take more risks. Normally, we always create different situations. Today the team didn't take any offensive risks."
When asked if seventh-placed Milan - on 19 points with a game in hand - still stood a chance in the title battle, Fonseca responded affirmatively.
"It's difficult for other people, but I still believe. There are still many games and other teams can lose points," he said.
Celta Vigo 2-2 Barcelona: Stunning late show denies 10-man Blaugrana
Celta Vigo scored two goals in two minutes late on to earn an entertaining 2-2 draw with Barcelona in LaLiga at the Estadio Abanca-Balaidos.
League leaders Barca appeared to be cruising towards victory when they opened up a two-goal lead thanks to captain Raphinha and leading goalscorer Robert Lewandowski.
Raphinha cut inside before tucking home for the opener 15 minutes in, then Lewandowski got his 15th league goal of the season with a simple finish in the 61st minute.
However, the script changed when Blaugrana midfielder Marc Casado was sent off after receiving his second yellow card in the 82nd minute.
With Barca down to 10 men, the home side piled on the pressure and it told in the 84th minute, substitute Alfonso Gonzalez converting following an error from Jules Kounde.
The comeback was complete two minutes later, with Hugo Alvarez drilling past Inaki Pena to deny Flick's visitors victory.
Despite the result, Barca top LaLiga with 34 points, five ahead of Atletico Madrid in second and seven ahead of third-placed Real Madrid, who have two games in hand.
Data Debrief: Blaugrana finally held
Going into Saturday's game, Barcelona had gone 24 matches without a draw in LaLiga, winning 20 and losing four.
When they entered the final six minutes with a two-goal advantage, it appeared certain they would match their longest streak without a draw in the competition's history, recorded between February and October 2017 (25 games, 23 wins and two draws).
However, Hansi Flick's side were stunned at the death as they dropped points for a second game in succession following a 1-0 loss at Real Sociedad prior to the international break.
Motta 'satisfied' despite drab goalless draw at Milan
While Juventus' 0-0 draw with Milan offered little entertainment at San Siro, Thiago Motta was happy with his side's performance.
The scoreless draw brought little in the way of chances for either side but it allowed Juventus to maintain their unbeaten start to the season, where they have kept 10 clean sheets in 13 games.
Motta became just the fifth Juventus manager to not lose any of his first 13 matches on the Bianconeri bench in Serie A history (W6 D7) – after Jesse Carver, Cestmir Vycpalek, Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri.
The match only included three shots on target, with only one of those falling to Milan as they struggled to trouble their visitors.
"I am satisfied with the work we have done, especially defensively," Motta told DAZN.
"We didn't concede anything to the opponents; open play is their strong point, and we managed to block them."
Juve have drawn seven of their league games already this season but Motta was content to take another point considering the growing injury list he has to contend with.
Dusan Vlahovic missed the trip to Milan with a muscle problem picked up while on international duty and Juve were already without Arkadiusz Milik, Nicolas Gonzalez, Douglas Luiz, Juan Cabal and Bremer.
"This point can give continuity to us for our work. I'm proud of my players because in the situation we are in we put in a good performance," Motta added.
"I am satisfied with tonight's work and many things. So far we have to be happy, the path is the right one."
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