What Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said about breakaway TWO YEARS ago
‘The Champions League is the Super League’: What Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said about breakaway plans TWO YEARS ago as world of football turns against Big Six’s scheme to join European rivals in money-spinning new format
- Liverpool are among 12 sides confirmed to be taking part in the proposed league
- The plans have received widespread condemnation from both pundits and fans
- And Klopp’s highly critical remarks about the idea from 2019 have been released
Jurgen Klopp’s disparaging comments from 2019 about the hugely controversial new European Super League have been revealed.
The plans for the breakaway competition, involving English football’s Big Six teams, have been confirmed, with pundits and fans near-unanimously opposed to the project, widely seen as a power and money grab for the sides, including Liverpool.
And Reds boss Klopp was quoted two years ago questioning the need for such a competition when the Champions League existed, and whether people would be interested in watching the same big clubs play each other over and over.
Jurgen Klopp’s critical comments from 2019 about the European Super League were revealed
The Liverpool boss had spoken out against the hugely controversial breakaway competition
In tweets posted by The Athletic’s Liverpool reporter, Klopp said: ‘I hope this Super League will never happen. With the way the Champions League is now running, football has a great product, even with the Europa League.
‘For me, the Champions League is the Super League, in which you do not always end up playing against the same teams.
‘Why should we create a system where Liverpool faces Real Madrid for 10 straight years? Who wants to see that every year?’
Klopp questioned whether audiences would want to watch Liverpool v Real Madrid every year
Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham make up the English representation in the 12-team league.
The other sides are Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid from Spain, plus Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan from Italy, while French side Paris Saint-Germain and German giants Bayern Munich are understood to have rejected the idea.
The league – scheduled to start ‘as soon as is practicable’ – is a seismic move that has triggered instant war across the sport.
The Reds and the Spanish giants are two of the 12 clubs to have signed up for the new league
The decision threatens to split England football with the Premier League indicating in a letter to clubs that it would not sanction any such competition, leaving the Big Six no choice but to back down or break away.
Fans, politicians, governing bodies and some of football’s most famous names joined in condemning the staggering development, which was the brainchild of Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and which was officially announced in a statement late on Sunday night.
A simple opening paragraph which shook the world of football declared: ‘Twelve of Europe’s leading football clubs have today come together to announce they have agreed to establish a new mid-week competition, the Super League, governed by its Founding Clubs.’ The bombshell press release added that the founding clubs ‘look forward’ to holding discussions with UEFA and FIFA.
SUPER LEAGUE FULL STATEMENT AND COMPETETION FORMAT
Twelve of Europe’s leading football clubs have today [Sunday] come together to announce they have agreed to establish a new mid-week competition, the Super League, governed by its Founding Clubs.
AC Milan, Arsenal, Atlético Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur have all joined as Founding Clubs.
It is anticipated that a further three clubs will join ahead of the inaugural season, which is intended to commence as soon as practicable. Going forward, the Founding Clubs look forward to holding discussions with UEFA and FIFA to work together in partnership to deliver the best outcomes for the new League and for football as a whole.
The formation of the Super League comes at a time when the global pandemic has accelerated the instability in the existing European football economic model. Further, for a number of years, the Founding Clubs have had the objective of improving the quality and intensity of existing European competitions throughout each season, and of creating a format for top clubs and players to compete on a regular basis.
The pandemic has shown that a strategic vision and a sustainable commercial approach are required to enhance value and support for the benefit of the entire European football pyramid.
In recent months extensive dialogue has taken place with football stakeholders regarding the future format of European competitions. The Founding Clubs believe the solutions proposed following these talks do not solve fundamental issues, including the need to provide higher quality matches and additional financial resources for the overall football pyramid.
Competition Format
• 20 participating clubs with 15 Founding Clubs and a qualifying mechanism for a further five teams to qualify annually based on achievements in the prior season.
• Midweek fixtures with all participating clubs continuing to compete in their respective national leagues, preserving the traditional domestic match calendar which remains at the heart of the club game.
• An August start with clubs participating in two groups of ten, playing home and away fixtures, with the top three in each group automatically qualifying for the quarter finals.
Teams finishing fourth and fifth will then compete in a two-legged play-off for the remaining quarter-final positions. A two-leg knockout format will be used to reach the final at the end of May, which will be staged as a single fixture at a neutral venue.
As soon as practicable after the start of the men’s competition, a corresponding women’s league will also be launched, helping to advance and develop the women’s game.
The new annual tournament will provide significantly greater economic growth and support for European football via a long-term commitment to uncapped solidarity payments which will grow in line with league revenues. These solidarity payments will be substantially higher than those generated by the current European competition and are expected to be in excess of €10 billion (£8.7bn) during the course of the initial commitment period of the Clubs.
In addition, the competition will be built on a sustainable financial foundation with all Founding Clubs signing up to a spending framework. In exchange for their commitment, Founding Clubs will receive an amount of €3.5 billion (£3bn) solely to support their infrastructure investment plans and to offset the impact of the COVID pandemic. Florentino Pérez, President of Real Madrid and the first Chairman of the Super League said: ‘We will help football at every level and take it to its rightful place in the world. Football is the only global sport in the world with more than four billion fans and our responsibility as big clubs is to respond to their desires.’
Backing the new European league, Andrea Agnelli, Chairman of Juventus and Vice-Chairman of the Super League said: ‘Our 12 Founder clubs represent billions of fans across the globe and 99 European trophies. We have come together at this critical moment, enabling European competition to be transformed, putting the game we love on a sustainable footing for the long-term future, substantially increasing solidarity, and giving fans and amateur players a regular flow of headline fixtures that will feed their passion for the game while providing them with engaging role models.’
Joel Glazer, Co-Chairman of Manchester United and Vice-Chairman of the Super League said: ‘By bringing together the world’s greatest clubs and players to play each other throughout the season, the Super League will open a new chapter for European football, ensuring world class competition and facilities, and increased financial support for the wider football pyramid.’
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