Hello everyone and welcome to this week's edition of the Spanish Football Podcast. Sydney, Sydney, Sydney. Where do we start? Shall we start by talking about the Copa Del Rey final? Shall we start by talking about the Lalliga title race? We'd love to, but we can't.

We have to talk about the European Super League. It's probably going to dominate the majority of today's podcast for other more frivolous Spanish football topics. Join us for our Q&A pod tomorrow at patreon.com forward slash T.S.F.P. We're going to answer your questions.

But what if they ask about the Super League only? Please try and ask us some other things.

But yeah, today primarily feels like we have to dedicate a large chunk of today's podcast talking about the Super League. Sydney is something that you've been investing in for a while.

There was always this possibility in the background that has been for a very, very long time as a vague idea, then as a slightly more developed idea, not least as a means of pressuring UEFA.

Because, of course, we've said this before on numerous occasions when people talk about the inevitability of a Super League. You've got one. That's what the Champions League is and the reason that the Champions League got expanded.

The reason why it became not just a European Cup was to satisfy the desires for greater revenue, to satisfy the desires of greater visibility of the biggest clubs, to enable the biggest leagues to have more representatives in it.

And, of course, what UEFA were about to discuss, in fact, had been discussing today, was their own plans for a much, much bigger Champions League structure, which would allow for more games between the bigger clubs.

And, for example, remember interviewing Bartomeu the day after the morning after Messi had scored, I think, twice when they beat Liverpool 3-0 and, of course, they knew the second leg, but it was the morning off that and he was euphoric.

And he was saying, look, one thing that can't happen is we can't wait another 10 years to play Liverpool again. We've got to be playing them every year.

And, obviously, we had the discussion with him then about, but it's partly the scarcity that makes us feel special. It's the jeopardy of maybe being knocked out.

It's not just turning it into a league, although, of course, that was partly addressed by the fact that their idea was a long league season with playoffs following it.

But the idea was there. What makes this, I think, different? There are a number of reasons. One is, I think, the determination to actually force it through, or the very least to use it as such a serious threat that you basically get everything you want from UEFA.

But I think it's more than that, because I think there is a desire from some of those that lead it.

This looks like this is more than just a threat now. Yes, absolutely.

Oh, it absolutely is. And because it's not just about them getting control of this, it's not just about the money that lies beneath it.

It's also actually about taking the power away from UEFA and saying, well, we control our own destiny.

You don't interfere on things like financial fair play. You don't interfere on the things that we're allowed to do.

Do not prevent us. And I have absolutely no doubt that this will happen very, very soon from playing games in Qatar, in the US, in Japan, in wherever it may be.

And so I think this is a very, very, very serious threat. The question now, of course, is what happens?

And what happens in terms, I think, more than anything else, of the reaction of those that this directly challenges?

Yeah, I mean, we're conscious of the fact that we're recording now. And this has actually been quite a fast, sort of moving story.

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