The Super League shockwaves are reverberating across the continent on Monday morning as Europe wakes up in horror at the work of 12 of the biggest, most storied teams in the game.
The first serious emergence of the Super League plans came on Sunday afternoon and by Sunday night, 12 founding teams from England, Italy and Spain had been confirmed as AC Milan, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham.
But this is a story that stretches for beyond those three countries as the Super League framework is a serious threat to upending the competitive spirit as we know it in every European nation.
Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport delivered a ‘Super NO’ at plans to from a Super League
Italian publication Tuttosport responded by saying that a Super League would ‘kill football’
Corrierre dello Sport, meanwhile, said that UEFA and the Super League teams are at war
But one of the most striking headlines comes in Italy, where Gazzetta dello Sport writes: ‘The project of 12 European clubs including Juve, Inter and Milan. Super League? Super NO.’
Fellow Italian publication Tuttosport says: ‘But you are crazy! Super League kills football’ while Correire dello Sport writes: ‘Uefa and the Super League go to war.’
Teams such as Paris Saint-Germain in France and Bayern Munich in Germany were notable omissions from the 12 founder clubs, but the story is still on the front pages there.
‘The War of the Rich’ said French publication L’Equipe, while Germany’s Bild focuses on its two Germans at the head of two of the founding Premier League in the Super League in Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp and Germany’s Thomas Tuchel.
‘Twelve top European clubs want to found a super league,’ they write alongside pictures of the two managers.
Portugal were another nation whose bigger sides were outside of the big 12, yet the Super League proposals dominate the front pages there.
Warning of fines totalling tens of millions for its bigger clubs who may been considering joining the venture, Portugese publication A Bola says the Super League is ‘the mega process that promises to shake professional football in Portugal’.
L’equipe’s front page on Monday described Super League plans as ‘the war of the rich’
German publication Bild focused on Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel who are managers at Super League founder clubs Liverpool and Chelsea in the Premier League
Curiously, there is less coverage given among the Spanish publications on Monday morning.
There are just small mentions on the front pages of all the daily sport papers there. Marca’s front page reads: ‘Football explodes: The Super League is born and Uefa threatens severe sanctions’ but the major focus is on Atletico Madrid’s 5-0 win over Eibar in the LaLiga title race.
Meanwhile, AS says similarly ‘The birth of the Super League: the war begins’ but like Marca, focuses on Atletico.
Mundo Deportive, the Catalan based paper, describe the plans as ‘the war of the Super League’ but the bulk of the cover is taken up by Barcelona celebrations after they beat Athletic Bilbao to win the Copa del Rey on Saturday night.
In Spain, there were smaller mentions of the plans on the pages of Marca and AS
Catalan paper Mundo Deportivo focused on Barcelona’s Cope del Rey win, with just a small reference to what they also described as ‘the war of the Super League’
This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk