Superleague, Golden Ball, Luis Enrique… Nasser Al-Khelaïfi speaks during an event in Madrid

The European Super League will not see the light of day, at least not for the moment, and Nasser Al-Khelaïfi has something to do with it. During “The Forum”, an event co-organized by Atlético de Madrid, the president of PSG, also president of the European Club Association (EFC), recounted how he had helped convince the last clubs to support the project, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.

“I am not the only one who worked for peace, we all worked for it,” says Al-Khelaïfi, in comments relayed by the Spanish daily AS. I would like to thank Florentino Pérez, Real Madrid, Laporta, Barça, as well as Atlético… It was not easy. All clubs have the same interest, the only difference is that they express it differently. We all want better European football. If we cooperate, we will all benefit. The championships are also close to my heart. We must put aside selfishness. »

“I was asked to work for peace”

Nasser Al-Khelaïfi says that he worked as a mediator to put all the clubs on the same side. “I was asked to work for peace, and I answered: Of course ! I asked Barça and Real: do you want peace? Yes, but we don’t know how to achieve it. »

“We had to roll up our sleeves. It was very hard, but everyone knew what the other wanted. They put it down on paper and promised themselves they would make it happen. This peace will benefit everyone: the leagues, the clubs, the UEFA competitions, the national teams…”

Luis Enrique, “one of the most positive people I have met in my life”

In addition, the Qatari president welcomed the reform of the Champions League, with the new formula coming into force last season. “Ceferin (the UEFA president) had the audacity to tackle all these changes. With this format, there are more goals. There were 638 goals, 20 more than last year. This means that there is better football, more attacking football. I don’t see the point in changing it. But we can always improve it, yes. »

Nasser Al-Khelaïfi also addressed a myriad of other topics, and notably praised his coach Luis Enrique. « One of the most positive people I have met in my life is Luis. Always positive, before and after. We can all learn from him. In football, you lose matches, trophies — that’s life. But how to get up and fight again, learn from your mistakes, improve every day — that’s our philosophy. »

Vitinha “deserves the Golden Ball”

With Luis Enrique, PSG will play a third consecutive Champions League semi-final. “We are very proud, it’s the best club competition in the world. For us, being in the semi-finals three years in a row is something important. And with a young team. Being in the top 4 is really something big, something special for us. »

“When we arrived, everyone doubted us,” he continued. When we invested in Paris Saint-Germain, we said to ourselves: This is the only club in Paris. With more than 10 million people around the city, a club which had won the French championship twice. So we asked ourselves: How to be competitive against the big clubs? How to be different? I don’t want to be just an ordinary football club. Paris is fashion, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. There is History, museums, there is everything there. I’m not saying we’re better, but we do things differently. »

Today, PSG is in the running to make the back-to-back in the Champions League and counts Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé in its ranks. Another trophy that Paris can consider keeping? “It is hope so, pose NAK. I think we have four or five players who can win the Ballon d’Or in the next three or four years. Really. It could be Dembélé, it could be someone else. Vitinha is an extraordinary player, of course he deserves it. »