21 December 2023 , 20:35
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Any European Super League without the presence of a big English club is simply far from super.
It is secondary. That is not tub-thumping, it is fact. And there is zero chance of any of the Big Six, the infamous Rebel Six, resuscitating their interest in any sort of breakaway competition.
That they thought their fans would stand for it in the first place - as they somehow did on that notorious day back in April of 2021 - remains unfathomable. Their decision to hook up to the idea back then was an aberration and that quickly became clear through the backlash from their fans. It would be the definition of stupidity for the owners of any of those clubs involved to even entertain the idea of revisiting a breakaway project.
The message from supporters two and a half years ago was that they were happy with the structure of domestic and European football - and its basis in meritocracy - and it is hard to believe anything has changed since then.
That is why Manchester United have been quick to distance themselves from any notion of a splinter competition and reiterated their commitment to UEFA.
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The ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that FIFA and UEFA abused their dominant position by forbidding clubs to compete in a European Super League is a shot across the bows of those two organisations, make no mistake. The ECJ is effectively saying they should not have a monopoly on organising elite football competitions.
Fair enough, and Barcelona and Real Madrid are within their rights to go along with that implicit declaration. But for all its minor faults - and there are many - there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the structure of the competitive game in Europe and in this country.
Spurs fans protesting against the European Super League back in 2021 (Getty Images)Weekends are reserved for domestic football and how you perform in domestic football governs your eligibility to play in European competition the following season, no matter the historical size of your club.
That is how it should be. And, more importantly, that is how supporters WANT it to be.
The legal talk, the commercial talk, the political talk, will bamboozle you and bore you. But, as was spectacularly demonstrated last time around, the loudest voice, thankfully, still belongs to the fans.
And, as it stands, that voice will still shout down this European Super League nonsense.