“It’s great to put eight goals past Dijon, but it is in these matches that you have to make it count,” Adrien Rabiot told beIN Sports after Paris Saint-Germain lost to Real Madrid in the Champions League last season.
This statement from the French midfielder highlights the purgatory that PSG find themselves in – they’re far superior to any challenge domestically, so much so that many have claimed it blunts their edge so they’re unable to contend with the European elite on the grandest stage.
This has not been a one-off phenomenon. Last season, PSG finished 16 points clear of second and won their sixth league title in seven years.
And this scenario is not unique to France. There is a gap that has been steadily growing between the top one or two clubs across European football to the rest.
(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Juventus have won eight consecutive Serie A titles, Bayern Munich have been Bundesliga champions for seven years running and Atletico Madrid’s 2013-14 La Liga crown was the only time in the last 14 years that the Real Madrid-Barcelona duopoly has been broken, with Barcelona last season wrapping up their eighth title in the last 11 campaigns.
As things currently stand, the status quo in footballing leagues will remain as it suits those who would have the power to change it. However, how many consecutive Serie A titles do Juventus need to canter to while simultaneous falling short in Europe before people decide it is enough? How many French teams can PSG eviscerate on a weekly basis before their repeated failure in Europe can no longer be stomached?
Money from media rights is where the issue could turn from complaints to tangible action, with the English Premier League outstripping its European rivals.
English clubs are now taking advantage of their riches in European competitions, which could see whispers from continental club presidents turn into shouts.
Bayern Munich chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has never been shy about discussing alternatives to the current models of footballing leagues in an attempt to find ways for Bayern to break through the financial glass ceiling of being in the Bundesliga.
Rummenigge, however, has taken these hints a step further in recent weeks by questioning the very fabric of German football. The 50-plus-1 rule ensures that a majority of each club is owned by the fans.
This rule, by extension, limits private ownership of a club – the sort of ownership that has helped the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and PSG turn from domestic also-rans into European elite.
A revolution doesn’t need a 30-team agreement, just a single match to light a waiting fuse. PSG have the ability to be that match. The club is effectively owned by the Qatari government as a vehicle for soft power and international legitimacy.
This, as well as their international branding, will only last so long if the team keeps failing at the first sign of difficulty in Europe while swatting aside all domestic competition.
Given their need for prestige and combined with the almost unlimited bank accounts of the owners, PSG would have both the motive and financial clout to realistically propose a breakaway league.
Sure, it would possibly gut Ligue 1, but what do the Qatari owners care for the health of French domestic football if it allows their project to further sun itself in glory?
(AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu)
Given Rummenigge’s quotes about the limitations of the German footballing rules, it seems likely that Bayern – who can see their glorious history being overshadowed by an inglorious future – are simply looking for a good reason to join a new project.
What about the others, though?
English teams know that they have it good, with a competitive league and a veritable treasure chest of television income. This is enough to keep them happy under the present conditions.
If a European Super League was formed, though, it wouldn’t take long before the elite of European football decided it was too good to refuse. Would Sheikh Mansour prefer to play Brighton or Barcelona?
Where does the International Champions Cup (ICC) fit into all of this? It is a harmless, glamour preseason friendly tournament, isn’t it?
The ICC was started by Relevent Sports, who are a subsidiary of American venture capital group RSE Ventures. Each year the tournament format changes, as do some of the teams invited, and this has allowed a several-year experiment in deciding which are the most lucrative teams and best formats.
The tournament has enabled RSE to lay the foundations to create networks to launch a renegade league. TV rights negotiations, advertisers, venues, and match-day services – these contacts have already been established and these relationships have evolved over five years.
This experience means that Relevent Sports would, at the drop of a hat, have the connections and relationships established to turn these preseason contracts into season-long deals.
Will the need to find new revenue streams and regular competition eventually lead to the heavyweights of European football forming their own Super League? Given the disparities in domestic football only increasing, it’s looking more likely that it’s a matter of when and not if.
This leads to the question: is the International Champions Cup ultimately a pre-season friendly tournament or a Trojan Horse for a Super League?
Buddy
Roar Rookie
Yes all true but they still prefer not to. A trip from London to Manchester or Liverpool to Birmingham, Paris to Lyon, Amsterdam to Eindhoven is far more preferable!
Tyke
Roar Rookie
They fly in such luxury, and I’m sure they already adjust their sleeping and training patterns when they travel. These superich footballers are so precious
Buddy
Roar Rookie
Mmmm I like the subject as a debate but come down more on the side that says it won’t happen anytime soon as the football power base won’t expand in that way. Maybe if the skies are filled with supersonic aircraft that will reduce travel time etc, otherwise ?I can’t see European clubs travelling to away games in Asia anytime soon. They think Turkey and Russia are great distances! 10 -16 hour flights are still the domain of the ACL.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
Got some wires crossed here JB. I was only referring to the annual game played between the 2 winners of the European competitions which first came in during early 70’s. The upcoming game between Liverpool and Chelsea is the euro super cup now isn’t it?
Nick Symonds
Guest
"Presuming that the world doesn’t explode into world war" - On the subject of Trojan Horses, the Chinese Belt and Road initiative does look a bit like the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" set up by Imperial Japan. On top of that, China has border disputes with Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, The Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Nepal, Bhutan and India. Not to mention Hong Kong and Taiwan. Then there's that new Chinese port in Darwin. Do the government still have plans for a Brisbane Line?
jbinnie
Guest
Buddy - your trip down memory lane appears a bit confusing to the reader, for the first European Cup was played in 1955 and the format then was for the champion team of each country to "qualify" for participation rights. I remember well the Scottish Football's Association expressing doubts as to whether the format could be successful,so much so that they passed the financial risk outcome to the participating team, in that year Hibernian. (Remember this was before the days of cheap air travel and huge TV investment). Real Madrid in that era won 5 consecutive European Cups and it was only when the "final" attracted 127,000 paying fans to the 1960 final that the money men sat up and began to take notice.Real Madrid (Spain) and Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany) were the finalists so it would be correct to assume most of the vast 127,000 were in fact localised Scottish football fans. Then there was the European Cup Winners Cup, a competition that was set up to please the teams that were victors in their national cup competitions and it was those finals that were played on a home and away basis,allowing both teams to source extra revenue. So between 1955 and 1960 we had the establishment of two European competitions and after initial teething problems they became the accepted rewards for successful teams. Since those days we have seen a plethora of other competitions set up,all basically with one aim in mind,the proliferation of revenue from, in the main, TV sources That brings us to this article, the investigation into a European Super League. It is not a new idea. Since the two competitions mentioned above became accepted this discussion has taken place on a regular basis,and it has taken drastic rule changes and participation requirements to ensure the "Super League" idea remains where it is ,a discussion point,and not one that could see control of the game taken away from the multitude of Associations,Federations, and ruling bodies that would be directly affected. Cheers jb.
Brisvegas
Guest
Presuming that the world doesn't explode into world war and that capitalism continues to rule supreme along current lines, it seems inevitable that there will, at some stage in the future, be a world league. And that would include not just traditionally acceptable teams like PSG, Bayern etc, but also a Chinese team, a Saudi team, an American team. If the Europeans manage to find a way to break out into a super league, it would seem to be just a matter of time before it became global. Why wouldn't the Saudis, say, want to take advantage of their home territory, or an Indian want to mobilise the sub-continent, and the Chinese expand soft power, or ... or ... well, it's the world game after all, and tradition isn't a concern for the forward march of capitism in a global economy. A few ifs in there. Big ifs. An interesting thought experiment.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
If the current competition is a Trojan horse then it will have died and gone to the Trojan glue factory well before any cunning plan comes to fruition. I only say that as the annual fixture has been around for over 40 years. It used to be the European Super Cup and was played over 2 legs. For a while it was an early season but of fun played out in Monaco each year although the venue now moves each year. It doesn’t really hold any more prestige or glamour than the annual pre EPL opener referred to these days as the community shield. There has been almost as much talk about an elite euro super league as there has talks on Brexit down the years and neither seems to have the drive and determination to create an outcome that satisfies everyone. I see it remaining as a regular talking point and nothing more for decades to come and along with it the domination of many leagues by a handful of clubs. It mirrors so much that we encounter in business and politics almost irrespective of the type of regime governing the country.