European Super League would be horrible

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge backs the super league
source: Sven Simon/imago

This month the topic of a European Super League has been raised with Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge suggesting it is possible that it will come to fruition. Juventus' president Andrea Agnelli also backing the idea.
Just for the record I am totally against any formation of such a league. I see it as a greedy proposal for a cartel of clubs that would only get richer while leaving the majority of European clubs an awful lot poorer. The current system needs changing no doubt about that as the gap between the haves and have nots is too wide, but a European Super League would kill off domestic leagues across Europe.
If a league was created how would big historic European clubs like Crvena Zvezda, Steaua Bucharest, Spartak Moskva and Celtic be able to compete? These clubs can't even compete under the current system let alone having the fat cats get even richer with their breakaway league.

It has to be pointed out as well that Bayern Munich and Juventus are only supporting such a proposal because they have reached a ceiling domestically. They can't really get any bigger at home and their season's hinge on the performances in Europe. A sort of Celtic in Scotland scenario is you wish, they have outgrown their domestic league and need a bigger competition to move on up the money chain.
You won't be hearing any English sides backing such a proposal while sky TV continues to pour billions into the league. The English sides are happy with their lot and will be for the foreseeable future. After all Bournemouth now have a bigger economic power than Benfica, Ajax and Porto and the Premier league chief Richard Scudamore is loving it. However they would've been on side going back ten-fifteen years when Arsenal and Manchester United formed a duopoly on the Premier league title or even going back further to 1992 when the Premier league was formed.

BATE have outgrown Belarus
source: getty images

To take another example on a smaller scale, BATE Borisov from Belarus have in the past been mentioned in the proposal for a CIS league featuring the biggest sides from Russia, Ukraine and Georgia along with the other former Soviet sides. BATE have outgrown the Belorussian league. Their repeated appearances in the champions league have put them streets ahead of anyone else domestically that they are now looking at avenues to increase revenue to be able to compete on European level. Would BATE be looking toward Russian clubs if the Belorussian league was more competitive? unlikely.

The formation of the league hinges on the proposal that there will be regular matches between the biggest sides on the continent. However like most things there is a certain novelty factor with this. What makes certain champions league games appealing is the fact that they don't meet that often, however even the champions league is beginning to become repetitive in this respect. Another factor that would go against the league is would fans be still supporting the teams when they are out of contention. All these big sides are used to being up the top end of the league would Barcelona fans still be out in force if they were in mid-table in this super league? Bayern Munich fans would they be the same if they were not in contention for a title? unlikely in both cases.  With this league not all of these super clubs would be winning the title.

What would happen to every club outside the cartel? Well many reports would suggest that life would go on. Being honest the domestic leagues of Spain, Germany, France etc would become quiet more competitive if the cartel clubs were to leave. An example of this would be in France where PSG would take off leaving a really competitive league between the rest. Aside from PSG this season, 2nd placed Monaco (remains to be seen if they would be considered if it came about) are just sixteen points off the drop zone.
The champions league would also become more competitive as well. The cartel clubs would breakaway from UEFA and thus ineligible to take part which would give the likes of Porto, Sevilla and Napoli realistic hopes of actually winning the trophy.

Porto were the last side outside the big four leagues to win
source: uefa.com

The European cup was re-branded in 1992 to become the champions league. Re-branded to prevent the big clubs across Europe from forming the breakaway league. Since 1992 the Champions league has become the "biggest club competition" in the world but it has become stale as the winners are coming from the same three to four countries mirroring most of the major European leagues where at most three to four sides realistically could win them. These days one could quiet confidently predict the semi-finalists in the champions league. Not since 2004 has a club from outside Italy, Spain, Germany and England won the champions league. If your not based in those four countries you don't have a hope under the current system and that needs changing. People will come back and say no one has retained the trophy but the fact that nobody outside the big four leagues in Europe has come close to winning it suggests it isn't competitive.
By allowing up to four sides from the same country into the so called "champions" league you are depriving other countries of places. "Oh but those countries are not so good" because they have been neglected by the greed of UEFA and the fat cats. This season saw the unprecedented scenario of Spain having five sides in the champions league. With five Spanish teams, the champions of Poland, Scotland, Serbia, Romania and Czech Republic were no where to be seen.
The Europa league in contrast is a much more competitive tournament. The reason? well the recent addition of the winners entering the champions league has given it an even more competitive edge.
To help make the champions league more competitive would be the obviously spread the wealth more evenly, and open up the tournament to more countries to access that wealth. We have seen how entertaining the Europa league can be with various competitive edges such as the champions league place and the decent spread of prize money.

While the leagues would become more competitive if the super league came to fruition, the leagues wouldn't be generating the same amount of money as they do now. These big clubs would take the majority of the money these leagues make with them as they do have this appeal by being up competing for honours every season. Fans would pay big money to watch this new league while leaving the likes of Ligue 1, La Liga and Bundesliga going the same way as the Russian, Serbian, Greek and many Eastern European leagues went when the champions league was bent in favor of Western Europe. It would kill off any prospects in these leagues. They would ensure that the money European football generates will be concentrated in the hands of the few who make the super league. It really would kill off European football. So fingers crossed this league will never happen!