Announced Sunday afternoon, the announcement of the Super League had the effect of a bomb in European football.
It is therefore in a rather special atmosphere that this Premier League match between Leeds and Liverpool took place (1-1).
Before the meeting, some supporters gathered around the stadium, some burned a shirt of Liverpool, a club that is one of the twelve founding members of the future closed league.
A plane flew over the Leeds skies with a message hanging behind it: 'No to the Super League'.
Fans burned a Liverpool shirt outside Elland Road as a plane flew past with the message #saynotosuperleague ✈️ pic.twitter.com/7I1OvDAD4Y
- ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) April 19, 2021
Likewise, during the warm-up, the Peacocks posted a message on their t-shirts: “Football is for the fans” and a “Deserve it”.
A strong position.
Leeds' shirts before facing Liverpool:
'Earn it'
'Football is for the fans' pic.twitter.com/xPfmre9z8m
- B / R Football (@brfootball) April 19, 2021
"The fundamental problem is that the rich always aspire to be richer, regardless of the consequences for others"
Marcelo Bielsa
Asked about the project at the end of the meeting, the Argentinian coach of Leeds, Marcelo Bielsa, criticized the discriminatory attitude of the richest clubs without being surprised. "The fundamental problem is that the rich always aspire to be richer, regardless of the consequences for others, as they gain more power they start to demand more privileges ... what makes the competition great is the possibility for one of the weak teams to develop, not to see the big teams against each other. But the logic of the world at the moment, and therefore that of football, is not that. It is that the powerful get richer and the weak get poorer. If that's what's driving the world right now,why be surprised? This shouldn't surprise us ”.
Klopp disagrees with his club's position
On the side of the Reds, a club that split with UEFA to swell the ranks of the twelve, Jürgen Klopp, the coach, displayed his opposition to the positioning of his management, claiming not to have been informed: “Neither the players nor me have not been consulted.
The facts are there and we will wait to see how it evolves.
I am 53 years old, I have always known the Champions League.
As a manager, I have always wanted to participate.
I like the fact that West Ham can qualify for next season, even if I don't want to (Liverpool are fifth behind West Ham) ”.
Same story for James Milner, vice-captain of the Reds, lapidary at the microphone of
Sky Sports
: "My personal opinion is that I do not like and I hope that it will not be done".
Read also
"Total war", "The twelve bastards", "Football is cracking", the European press in shock at the Super League