Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Inter Milan team up for European Solidarity Cup

Spanish giants Real Madrid will team up with defending Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich and Serie A side Inter Milan to host a mini-tournament named "European Solidarity Cup" in 2021.

Bayern and Real released separate statements to announce details about the charitable tournament. The sole aim of the tournament would be to send out a message of solidarity and fraternity to the people of Europe, especially to the COVID-19 frontliners

The tournament will be dedicated to the healthcare staff who are continuing their immense fight against the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. In a statement, Real Madrid said that the three clubs want to demonstrate solidarity, respect, and gratitude to these heroes.

The competition would see three matches being played in 2021 in the cities of Madrid, Munich, and Milan. As of now, the potential dates for these matches are yet to be decided depending on the probable competitive calendar.

It has been understood that the competition would begin only when the supporters can return to the stands.

It has been proposed that all three teams will compete against each other. The game between Real Madrid and Inter Milan will be organised in Madrid, Spain, while the encounter between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich would take place in Milan, Italy. The remaining game between Bayern and Real would be held in Munich, Germany.

Although a German side is participating in the European Solidarity Cup, the money that is to be raised from the competition would be donated for the purchase of healthcare resources in Italy and Spain but not in Germany. A potential reason behind this is that Italy and Spain have witnessed a much worse crisis than what the Germany has.

Bayern chairman and CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said, "We have established very good relations with a lot of clubs through many Champions League games, and have struck up friendships with some of them. Despite all the suffering and all the problems, we in Germany are perhaps fortunate that our healthcare system is proving resilient in this crisis. But we have also seen horrifying images from Italy and Spain."

While Spain has recorded over 278,000 coronavirus positive cases and more than 27,000 deaths, Italy's figures are 225,000+ and 32,000+, respectively. In comparison, despite recording over 177,000 positive cases, Germany managed to limit the country's COVID-19 deaths to just over 8,000.