Fast forward to next August. It is the opening fixture of the brand new European Super League, the ESL. It’s a glamour game, as most on the ESL calendar are. Real Madrid host Manchester United.
The Bernabeu Stadium will be full. But things have not worked out as smoothly as the founders of the ESL project – a plan designed to fundamentally alter elite club football – had envisaged.
There are drawn-out court cases being fought in various countries about the right of players to participate in ESL, which is outlawed by football’s governing bodies, while still playing for their national teams.
United’s Marcus Rashford, an England star, is not available for the grand opener in Madrid because he does not want to jeopardise playing for his country by appearing in the ‘rebel’ competition.
Karim Benzema, the Madrid captain, whose career with France ended many years earlier, will play against United. But he is frustrated. Some of his long-term Madrid teammates have left the club because of the ongoing legal wrangles about ESL.
A far-fetched scenario? It might seem so, but, the day after the bombshell announcement that 12 major European clubs – six from England, three each from Spain and Italy – had signed up as founding members of a proposed ESL, with financial backing from the world’s largest investment bank, JP Morgan, it is the scenario the power brokers of the world’s most loved sport are currently heading towards.
United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have publicly committed to the ESL, along with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan.
They would like superclubs not on that list – Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain – to come on board, too, for a competition that, crucially, would have a majority of permanent club members in it every season, teams never at risk of relegation or of not qualifying.
Ranged against them, especially against the idea of a closed league, are the bodies under whose umbrella these clubs have become huge global brands: the English Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Fifa, Uefa and above all, millions of dedicated supporters.
But the drivers of the ESL are banking on fans’ continued loyalty, their guaranteed interest in paying to watch a new league where the frequency of matches which pit one superclub against another is higher than it is in the Champions League or Europa League.
Liverpool 0 Real 0: Champions League player ratings
-
LIVERPOOL PLAYER RATINGS: Alisson Becker - 6. The Brazilian did not see much action against a cautious Real but he was alert when needed. The best moment was a superb stop when Vinicius ran free on goal in the second half. PA -
Trent Alexander-Arnold - 7. The 22-year-old was impressive at both ends of the pitch. He did not allow Vinicius the same freedom as in the first leg. The team rely too much on the full-back's crossing but his delivery was very good. PA -
Nathaniel Phillips - 6. The centre back was lucky to get away with a mistake when he was robbed by Benzema but he stood strong overall. He made a couple of cynical challenges when caught out. Getty Images -
Ozan Kabak - 6. The Turk gave the ball away too often but was not put under severe pressure by Real. He was quick to stop counter-attacks. Substituted for Jota with 30 minutes left. AFP -
Andrew Robertson - 6. The Scot worked relentlessly up and down the wing and provided an outlet when the central players needed help. He always looked for the crossfield pass to release teammates into space. Reuters -
James Milner - 7. The 35-year-old went close with a shot from distance and put himself about. He made a crucial interception in his own area before being replaced by Thiago on the hour. Getty Images -
Fabinho - 7. The Brazilian was much better than in the first leg. He ensured his side had the advantage in midfield and protected the defence. AP -
Georginio Wijnaldum - 6. The Dutchman was keen to get forward and executed a couple of splendid turns in midfield to get attacks started. He had one great chance but skied the ball over the bar just before half time. EPA -
Mohamed Salah - 6. The Egyptian wasted a wonderful chance to bring his team back into the tie early in the first half. He kept the defence unnerved but was unable to make his menace pay off. Getty Images -
Roberto Firmino - 6. The Brazilian failed to pick out Alexander-Arnold when in a dangerous position before the break. He had a number of half chances in the second period, the best of which was blocked by Militao. He made way for Oxlade-Chamberlain with eight minutes left. Getty Images -
Sadio Mane - 6. The Senegalese started brightly and made life difficult for Valverde. He never carried through with the threat and faded before being replaced by Shaqiri in the 82nd minute. Getty Images -
SUBS: Thiago Alcantara - 5. The 30-year-old came on for Milner with half an hour left but could not change the game. By then Real were sitting deep and the passing lanes were closed down. Reuters -
Diogo Jota - 6. The Portuguese replaced Kabak in the 60th minute but found himself aiming for goal from narrow angles. He shot into the side-netting but never worried Courtois. Reuters -
Xherdan Shaqiri - 6. The Swiss had lots of touches in the eight minutes remaining after he replaced Mane but the defence kept him at arm’s length. He tried hard to no avail. Getty Images -
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - 5. The Englishman joined the game after Firmino’s substitution with eight minutes left. He had one good run in stoppage time but it finished with an aimless cross. PA -
REAL MADRID PLAYER RATINGS: Thibaut Courtois - 8. The Belgian made two vital saves from Salah at the beginning and end of the game, the first setting the tone for the match. In between he was excellent, making a spectacular full-stretch stop from Milner. EPA -
Federico Valverde - 7. The midfielder was deployed at right back. He struggled with Mane early on but grew into the game and produced a fine pass to create a chance for Vinicius. PA -
Eder Militao - 7. The Brazilian made a fantastic block from Firmino in the second half and looked composed throughout. He was good in the air against the barrage of crosses. Reuters -
Nacho - 8. The 31-year-old fourth-choice centre back ensured any danger was dealt with quickly. He made a number of important clearances and used his experience to lead the defence. Reuters -
Ferland Mendy - 6. The Frenchman got into some awkward situations but used his pace to bail himself out. Made a poor clearance late on. PA -
Luka Modric - 6. The Croat was given too much freedom to pick his passes but was not his usual precise self. He was aware that Real did not need to be gung-ho and played conservatively. Reuters -
Casemiro - 8. The Brazilian was up for a battle and got it. He scythed through Milner and broke up attacks repeatedly. The 29-year-old was not backing down and led by example. PA -
Toni Kroos - 5. The German was nowhere near as influential as in the first leg in Madrid. He was not given time to pick out long passes and took a cautious approach. Replaced by Odriozola with 18 minutes left. Getty Images -
Marco Asensio - 5. A quiet night for the 25-year-old. Real’s emphasis was on stopping Liverpool getting back into the tie and he saw too little of the ball. AP -
Karim Benzema - 6. The Frenchman had a deflected pass hit the post after dispossessing Phillips. He missed a free header in the second half that would have killed the tie. On the plus side, he led the line well and held the ball up. Getty Images -
Vinicius Junior - 5. The Brazilian was kept quiet by the defence and on the one occasion he showed his pace, the winger was foiled by Alisson. Taken off for Rodrygo with 18 minutes to go. Getty Images -
SUBS: Alvaro Odriozola - 6. The defender was brought on for Kroos to shore up the back line with 18 minutes left. He did his job well with rigorous blocks and tackles. PA -
Rodrygo - 5. Replaced Vinicius after 72 minutes but made little impact. He joined the game at the point Real sat deeper and deeper. AFP -
Isco - 6. Sent on for Asensio with eight minutes left. He reinforced the defence and helped see out the closing minutes. Getty Images
The ESL, as it is outlined, would effectively muscle out those Uefa tournaments from their prime place in the calendar, the midweek evenings. The 12 signatories to the ESL project claim it would bring in, via television and sponsorship, up to three times as much in revenue as the Champions League.
There is also the promise of an immediate ‘grant’ of around €300 million ($361m) each to the founding members of ESL, which specifically identifies as urgent their financial losses through the Covid-19 crisis. To the likes of Barcelona, whose vast Camp Nou stadium has been empty of spectators for over a year and whose debts exceed €1bn, that is an income boost hard to ignore.
The potential breakaway confronts football with a schism of enormous destructive potential. European Super League tanks have rolled on to Uefa’s lawns before, but usually it has led to a compromise, the tanks withdrawing after European football's governing body yields more access for the wealthier clubs to its prestige competition, mostly at the cost of clubs from the less powerful leagues in Europe.
At the end of the 1990s, in response to a breakaway proposal, the Champions League was expanded and its format enlarged. Where once only the winners of the Premier League, La Liga or Serie A qualified each year, now four clubs from each of those leagues go into the group phase.
On Monday, under pressure from elite clubs seeking more regular A-list matches and fewer group matches against the likes of Krasnodar or Cluj, another new format, swelling the group phase from 32 to 36 teams, was unveiled. But Sunday’s bombshell, the revelation that 12 major clubs had signed a provisional agreement to take part in ESL, made that announcement a mere footnote.
The Uefa president, Alexander Ceferin, was scathing of ESL. “A nonsense of a project, a disgraceful and self-serving proposal from clubs motivated by greed,” he called it and singled out the chief-executive of Manchester United, Ed Woodward, and the Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli.
Woodward, said Ceferin, had assured him United were “satisfied” with his Champions League reforms only three days before Woodward suddenly resigned his positions within Uefa to coincide with the announcement of the ESL plan. Of Agnelli, Ceferin said “I have never seen a person lie so persistently.”
Agnelli and United co-chairman Joel Glazer have been named as vice-chairmen of ESL, with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez the chairman. They hope, ideally, to have their project – a 20-club competition with two parallel 10-team leagues in a group phase, a play-off section and then knockout ties – up and running by August 2022.
They knew there would be outrage at the breakaway project, but some club sources acknowledge the degree of supporter anger against the idea has raised eyebrows.
They expected robust criticism and the threat of bans from governing bodies. ESL sent a letter to Uefa and Fifa at the weekend, saying “we are concerned that Fifa and Uefa may respond by seeking to take punitive measures to exclude any participating club or player from their respective competitions.”
They have armed their lawyers, and filed “a motion before the relevant courts” in anticipation of possible sanctions against clubs or individuals committing to the new competition.
Uefa is so far united with the major European domestic leagues in insisting that any involvement in the ESL must carry a heavy punitive cost. "We're still assessing with our legal team but we will take all the sanctions that we can,” said Ceferin. "My opinion is that as soon as possible they have to be banned from all our competitions and the players [banned] from all our competitions."
Battle lines have been drawn. This will be an ugly, attritional fight.
