With the new World Club Cup from next year being a 24-team tournament like the World Cup for countries, and the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic bringing to full focus the amount of games players are playing and the need for safety in scheduling, Eirball takes a look at what could be a solution to the problem of a European Super League.
While reading the South American Football Yearbook 2020-2021 by Gabriel Mantz, available at Soccer Books Limited: http://www.soccer-books.com/ the author noticed that the Brazilian State League run alongside the Brazilian National Championship i.e teams take part in both, with the State Leagues taking up the first 2-3 months before the National Championship takes over.
Here is the suggestion for the possibility of a European Super League: that teams continue to play in their National League for the first 5-6 months, playing a 30-34 game schedule, and then the top teams play in a European Super League with two levels for the last 3 months. It is possible to have the 32 team format, teams could just be divided into 2 groups of 18 (36 teams) based on geography (North and South or East and West) and play a 17-game schedule with the top 8 of each group reaching a knockout phase played, like this summers Champions League, over the course of two weeks in a single host country, chosen beforehand. There could be relegation and promotion wthin the two levels. Eirball has stuck with EU countries for this line-up. Turkey and the CIS countries could also be involved.
Possible Line-Up for European Super League
| ESL North | ESL South |
| Manchester United | Juventus |
| Chelsea | AS Roma |
| Liverpool FC | AC Milan |
| Aston Villa | Napoli |
| Bayern Munich | Real Madrid |
| Werder Bremen | FC Barcelona |
| Hertha Berlin | Sevilla FC |
| Borussia Dortmund | Atletico Madrid |
| AIK Stockholm | FC Porto |
| FC Cophenhagen | Sporting Clube de Benfica |
| Paris St. Germain | Austria Vienna |
| Olympique de Marseille | Ferencvaros |
| Ajax Amsterdam | AEK Athinai |
| Anderlecht | Steaua Bucharest |
| Celtic Rangers | Red Star Belgrade |
| Legia Warsaw | Sparta Praha |
| Dublin City FC | CSKA Sofia |
| Grasshoppers Zurich | Slovan Bratislava |
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Cathal Gallagher, Gabriel McCloyne, Peter Lemass, Rose McCabe, Ciaran Simms, Gerry Tully, Paul Lynch, Paul Foley.
About this document
Researched, Compiled and Written by Enda Mulcahy for the
Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive
Last Updated: 1 September 2020
(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2020
You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.