Manchester United have pledged their commitment to UEFA competitions and the Premier League following a court ruling which appeared to open the door to a European Super League being revived.
Backers of the European Super League declared victory after a court found rules allowing UEFA the right to grant prior approval to new competitions were contrary to EU law.
However, United – who were one of the 12 clubs who founded the controversial Super League in 2021 before withdrawing amid fan protests – say they are committed to the existing competitions.
“Our position has not changed,” the club said in a statement.
“We remain fully committed to participation in UEFA competitions, and to positive co-operation with UEFA, the Premier League, and fellow clubs through the ECA on the continued development of the European game.”
The chief executive of German club Bayern Munich, who refused to join the Super League back in 2021, also gave their support to UEFA.
“We have taken note of the judgement of the European Court of Justice. However, this does not change FC Bayern’s and the ECA’s position that such a competition would be an attack on the importance of the national leagues and the structure of European football,” Jan Christian Dreesen said.
A22, the company formed to assist in the creation of a European Super League, said the binding ECJ ruling means “football is free”.
Since the ECJ announcement A22 has already presented proposals for new “open and meritocratic” men’s and women’s competitions at European level that would clearly directly rival existing UEFA tournaments if ultimately approved.
A22 says fans will be able to watch live matches for free on a streaming platform called Unify, to be paid for through advertising.
Fan groups remain resistant to anything resembling the 2021 Super League, with Football Supporters’ Association chief executive Kevin Miles describing it as “a walking dead monstrosity” and insisting “no English club will be joining”.
European football’s governing body UEFA insisted Thursday’s ruling was not “an endorsement or validation” of the Super League project. It also remains convinced that the authorisation rules it introduced in June 2022 are “robust” and comply with European law.
“We trust that the solidarity-based European football pyramid that the fans and all stakeholders have declared as their irreplaceable model will be safeguarded against the threat of breakaways by European and national laws,” UEFA said.
The Grand Chamber of the ECJ found that where an undertaking such as UEFA holds a dominant position and has the power to determine the conditions in which potentially competing undertakings, such as A22, may access the market, that power must be subject to criteria which are transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate.
The court found UEFA and FIFA’s powers were not subject to any such criteria and therefore found both bodies were abusing a dominant position.
FIFA issued a statement taking note of the decision which it said would now be subject to further analysis.
A22 has proposed a new 64-team men’s competition, featuring 16 teams in the Star League, 16 in the Gold League and a 32-team Blue League. The leagues will feature promotion and relegation, with 20 teams qualifying via domestic performance each season into the Blue League, though A22 said more work and dialogue was needed to determine precisely how those 20 teams would qualify.
The women’s competition it proposes features 32 teams split into a Star and Gold League of 16 teams each. In both men’s and women’s competitions, the top eight teams in each league would play a knockout tournament.
Though the judgement has been seized on as success for Super League backers, A22 or any other competition organiser would need to get clubs onside as well as fans.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who was one of the key architects of the 2021 project, said the ruling meant clubs were now “masters of their own destiny”.
The ruling does appear at the very least to give clubs a stronger hand in the future development and governance of competitions, but it remains to be seen whether it leads to reform rather than revolution.
The ruling comes less than a month after the Premier League announced a record-breaking £6.7billion domestic rights deal.
While A22 insists what it proposes is a midweek European competition which would rely on thriving domestic leagues, anything adversely affecting interest in the Premier League’s race for European places could have a commercial impact. The league also relies strongly on competitive balance.
The European Leagues group, which includes the Premier League as a member, issued a statement which said: “The leagues believe in the fundamental principles of openness and qualification for international club competitions via domestic competition annual performances.”
The European Club Association, which jointly runs commercial operations with UEFA for the existing club competitions, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in September which lasts until July 2030. The MoU pledges that ECA members will not join any competition not organised by UEFA.
The ECA’s statement on Thursday said: “The world of football moved on from the Super League years ago and progressive reforms will continue.
“Most importantly, football is a social contract not a legal contract. All the recognised stakeholders of European and world football – spanning confederations, federations, clubs, leagues, players and fans – stand more united than ever against the attempts by a few individuals pursuing personal agendas to undermine the very foundations and basic principles of European football.”
Ndiaye targets spot in Everton's Goodison folklore
Iliman Ndiaye feels privileged to be part of the final Everton squad to play at Goodison Park, as the Toffees prepare to resume their Premier League campaign at home to Brentford.
Everton will leave Goodison for their new 52,000-seater stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock at the end of the 2024-25 season.
A run of one defeat in seven matches (two wins, four draws) has boosted the Toffees' hopes of surviving the current campaign in the top flight, and Ndiaye – a pre-season arrival from Marseille – says being part of club history was a key attraction when he joined.
"Obviously, I wanted to be part of that history of playing in the last-ever season at Goodison Park," Ndiaye told the club's website.
"So many things have happened here, it's full of history and we are the last players to represent this club here, so it's important we give everything we have.
"Then, the new stadium that is coming, I think that excites everyone. It's seriously impressive.
"The players who have been here for a long time and the players who have just arrived, I know we are all ready to give more than 100% to have the best season possible and go into the new stadium in a good place."
Brentford are six points clear of Everton in 11th, just three points adrift of Manchester City in third, though all their 16 points have been won on home turf.
Sepp van den Berg has played in nine of their 11 Premier League games this term after arriving from Liverpool, and the defender has heaped praise upon Thomas Frank for making him feel welcome.
"For me, Brentford was one of the first clubs interested and, as well as getting the chance to play in the Premier League and live in London, it was speaking with Thomas Frank," he said.
"The first meeting we had, he was asking me some straight questions: 'Why do you want to play for Brentford? Why do we need you at Brentford?' It was so direct, it was like a proper job interview!
"Of course, the football part has to be right as well – and it was. But Thomas just made me feel like I was really wanted here."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Everton – Jarrad Branthwaite
Since the start of last season, Everton have a win percentage of 35% and have earned 1.3 points per game in the Premier League when Branthwaite starts, compared to a 17% win percentage and 0.8 points-per-game without him in their starting XI.
Indeed, the Toffees have lost just one of the last eight league games in which he has started (five wins, two draws). The England international made his first start since August last time out in their goalless at West Ham, which was a massive boost for Dyche.
Brentford – Bryan Mbeumo
Only Mohamed Salah (14), Erling Haaland (12), Cole Palmer (12) and Bukayo Saka (10) have been directly involved in more Premier League goals this season than Mbeumo (nine – eight goals, one assist).
He has, though, played more minutes without a goal involvement in the competition against Everton than any other side (528 – 13 shots, five chances created). He will be determined to set that record straight at Goodison Park.
MATCH PREDICTION – EVERTON WIN
This match should offer an interesting clash of styles. Only Crystal Palace (0.089) average a lower xG per shot figure than Everton (0.093) in the Premier League this season, while Brentford are the side with the highest xG per shot in 2024-25 (0.149).
The Bees have seen 44 goals scored across their 11 Premier League games so far this season (22 for, 22 against), the most of any side.
Indeed, only Newcastle United in 1999-00 and Arsenal in 2011-12 have both scored and conceded 20+ goals in fewer games from the start of a campaign in the competition (10).
Brentford have, however, lost all five of their Premier League away games this season; only in 1924-25 and 1961-62 (both nine) have they ever lost each of their opening six or more away matches of a league campaign.
Everton have lost only two of their last 10 Premier League games at Goodison Park (six wins, two draws), while they also have three straight wins against Brentford in the competition, after failing to win any of their first three against them (one draw, two defeats).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Everton – 40.5%
Brentford – 32.5%
Draw – 26.9%
Bayern finances could thwart deal for Leverkusen's Wirtz
Bayern Munich's financial position could thwart a move for Bayer Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz, but the club are hopeful Jamal Musiala will pen a new contract soon.
That is according to Bayern chief executive Jan-Christian Dreesen, who discussed the club's squad-building plans in an interview with German outlet Abendzeitung.
Wirtz has attracted interest from a host of Europe's biggest clubs after helping Leverkusen to an unbeaten title triumph in 2023-24, winning the Bundesliga's Player of the Season award after scoring 11 goals and providing 11 assists in the competition.
Wirtz has four goals and two assists in the league so far this term, while only Alex Grimaldo (35) and Kevin Stoger (33) have bettered his 26 chances created in the Bundesliga and his figure of 3.9 expected assists (xA) puts him second to Grimaldo (4.22).
Bayern's tendency to swoop for Germany's brightest and best has led to them being linked with Wirtz, but Dreesen says finances will dictate their ability to make a move.
"It must always be in Bayern's interest to have the best German players with them," he said.
"But it is also true that Uli Hoeness always said Bayern must act in an economically sensible way. He would not agree with us if we did not observe both of his fundamental pillars."
Since the start of last season, Wirtz leads all players in the Bundesliga for successful dribbles, with 112. Second by that metric by Musiala, who has completed 109 for Bayern in that time.
Bayern are set to open talks over a new deal with the attacking midfielder, whose current deal with the Bavarian giants expires in 2026.
"It's no news that we naturally want to extend with one of the top players in the world who is in our ranks," Dreesen said.
"Jamal Musiala has developed excellently with us, he is a player who inspires the crowd, who creates a spectacle due to his individual class, who can turn a game around.
"I very much hope that these first really good talks that Max Eberl and Christoph Freund have with Jamal will ultimately lead to an extension.
"I don't want to put this in a corset in terms of time. The important thing is that it comes to that, even if it doesn't happen by the end of the year. Jamal Musiala is one of the faces of the future for FC Bayern."
Dreesen is also keen to see Joshua Kimmich put pen to paper on a new contract, with the midfielder having less than a year to run on his current deal.
"Joshua, who has a high degree of sporting ambition, knows which club he is in and what goals he can achieve here together with us," Dreesen said.
"He feels comfortable in Munich and is a very important player in this team.
"We have already said publicly that we now want to start talks with him about a contract extension quickly."
Chelsea into Champions League quarter-finals with two games to spare
Chelsea reached the Women's Champions League quarter-finals with two games to spare and stayed perfect under Sonia Bompastor with a 3-0 win over Celtic.
Real Madrid's 3-2 victory over Twente earlier on Wednesday meant Chelsea only needed to draw at Stamford Bridge to ensure progression from Group B.
However, goals from Lucy Bronze, Wieke Kaptein and Eve Perisset helped the Blues to their 11th victory in as many matches under former Lyon boss Bompastor.
Just 65 seconds had passed when Bronze hammered a volley home from Catarina Macario's corner, as Chelsea looked to enjoy a more comfortable outing after being forced to come from behind to win 2-1 at Celtic Park last week.
Another corner led to Chelsea's second goal in the 25th minute as Guro Reiten swung a wonderful ball in for Kaptein to glance home.
The Blues dominated the rest of the way and racked up 25 shots to Celtic's three, and they added a third deep into stoppage time when substitute Perisset converted from 12 yards following Shannon McGregor's handball.
Bompastor's former club Lyon also clinched their spot in the knockout stages as four late goals saw them beat Roma 4-1 and seal qualification from Group A.
They trailed as late as the 77th minute through a goal from Roma substitute Giulia Dragoni, but two goals in less than two minutes Kadidiatou Diani turned the game on its head.
Substitute Eugenie Le Sommer added a third before Wendie Renard managed a fourth in stoppage time, with Lyon's superior head-to-head record ensuring they can no longer be overtaken by the Giallorosse.
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