It took years of planning and just over 48 hours to demolish.
It takes something completely monumental for Jose Mourinho’s departure to seem insignificant, but that was exactly what the announcement of the Super League was.
The much-damaged breakaway competition threatened to jeopardize football as we know it, with 15 of Europe’s biggest clubs planning to create an event to compete in the Champions League where only five other clubs can qualify.
If you have not recently lost your phone, do not have access to a TV, do not have a radio, have not read newspapers and in principle have not had any contact with the outside world, you probably now know that everything is down your forehead.
So if the last few days feel like a blur and you are not sure what happened, here is a look back at how everything developed …
? The official statement from ‘ESL’ (European Super League) … pic.twitter.com/wIaHSFiShG
– 90min (@ 90min_Football) 19 April 2021
The news that shook the football world was announced on Sunday night, with the words “Super League” now etched forever in our memory.
12 clubs were confirmed as “founders” of the Super League – meaning they will always be present in the competition no matter how well they performed – an aspect of the event that undoubtedly caused the most uproar.
With 15 clubs expected to be announced, it remained to be seen who would participate in the Super League, although the reason why they were three smaller than the expected sum soon became clear when events began to unfold …
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge’s Bayern Munich was one of the three clubs that refused the offer | Alexander Hassenstein / Getty Images
Not 24 hours since the competition was announced, cracks were already starting to appear.
With only three countries represented in the 12 confirmed participants – England, Spain and Italy – the term “European Super League” seemed somewhat misleading. As it happens, two other countries had expected participants to join, although Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich all signaled their intention not to join the league.
While the French and German clubs who turned down the offer were a start, there was still much more to do, and both UEFA and FIFA did not hold back to clear out potential penalties.
It was rumored that three of the season’s four teams in the Champions League semi-final would be excluded from the competition due to their participation, while the remaining sides of the Europa League were threatened with the same penalty.
It was not just club-level football that seemed to be affected, with the threat that players playing in the Super League would be excluded from international tournaments in the future, which means that Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling, among others, would not be shown for England at the upcoming Euro 2020 finals.
Jurgen Klopp did not seem fond of the idea Clive Brunskill / Getty Images
Liverpool’s trip to Leeds on Monday night gave us a first chance to see players and managers put in place when asked about the proposal, and they really did not disappoint.
Jurgen Klopp was first up and while he did not exactly tear up the idea – explained why his side did not wear the same anti-Super League shirts as Leeds during their warm-up – he accepted that he had previously said that he did not like the idea.
Both James Milner and Patrick Bamford were much more black and white with their answers during the interviews after the match, while Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville’s appearance on Monday night football was really entertaining.
Late at night, the shameless Florentino Perez appeared on El Chiringuito TV to explain that none of the above-mentioned threats from UEFA or FIFA would be carried out and he claimed that the Super League would save football.
Boris Johnson threatened legal action against the idea Dan Kitwood / Getty Images
Fans and connoisseurs all over the world who expressed their dissatisfaction were one thing, but the big hitters really arrived on Tuesday morning.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with a number of fan groups to discuss the impact the Super League could have on English football, and he assured the groups that the competition’s plans would not go ahead.
Johnson then threatened legal action if the six English clubs were to continue with the proposal, in which Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden told the House of Commons “we [the government] will put everything on the table to prevent this from happening “.
A protest outside Stamford Bridge threatened to affect Chelsea’s game with Brighton | Chloe Knott – Danehouse / Getty Images
The outrage had already made headlines around the world by this time, although Tuesday night was really starting to see things fall apart.
Chelsea’s match with Brighton was threatened after hundreds of Blues fans gathered outside the Stamford Bridge gates and threatened to block access to the team bus. The legendary Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech had to re-establish himself with the fans before they eventually gave up after kick-off due to the protests.
The game with Brighton seemed to fade into insignificance given the concerns that Chelsea were in, and shortly after the final whistle, everything tumbled down …
We will not participate in the European Super League. # MUFC
– Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 20, 2021
After the news of Chelsea and Manchester City began to reconsider their involvement in the Super League, the domino effect began when a number of clubs announced that they were withdrawing from the competition.
All six English sides announced that they would no longer compete in the Super League, with three of the remaining six teams following in the coming hours.
Only Ronald Koeman and Zinedine Zidane’s pages left | LLUIS GENE / Getty Images
And so the decontamination began.
Liverpool owner John Henry was forced to apologize for his decision to pursue his Super League dream, admitting he had made a big mistake when signing up for the competition.
While Serie A giants Milan and Inter both withdrew, Juventus took a slightly different approach and released a statement that does not exclude them but admitted that the competition could not continue in its current form.
Barcelona and Real Madrid are the only two clubs still left – not surprising given the former’s rising debt and the latter president presiding over the Super League – but it remains to be seen whether they will be forced to retire.
