Florentino Perez has ongoing issues with UEFA’s governance of the European game, so it’s hardly surprising that the Real Madrid president is not a fan of the new Champions League format.
“It has increased the number of matches,” the Spaniard said, “but reduced the value of each match.” Of course, the irony of supporting a European Super League that would have yielded the exact same result was lost on Perez, but that doesn’t mean he’s wrong.
On the contrary, Madrid’s meeting with Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday perfectly proves the point. What should have been one of the marquee matches of the league phase has been stripped of almost all jeopardy – certainly from Liverpool’s perspective.
Consequently, Arne Slot should consider doing something that outraged Reds – and an awful lot of interested observers – when Liverpool faced Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu almost exactly 10 years ago…