The cloud of a collapsed Super League project hangs over this week’s Champions League semi-finals with three of the four clubs involved — Real Madrid, Manchester City and Chelsea — among the breakaway 12 that shook European football.
Paris Saint-Germain did not sign up to the proposals, which crumbled within 48 hours of being announced last week after a fierce backlash from fans, players, governments, national leagues, UEFA and FIFA.
However, the clash between PSG and City on Wednesday is illustrative of the forces which drove some of European football’s more established powers, led by Madrid president Florentino Perez, to seek the financial reassurances of a closed league format.
Under the Super League proposals, 15 founding members would be guaranteed their place in a 20-team competition, split into two leagues of 10 with the top sides in each progressing to the quarter-finals.