European Super League Relaunches

GM football fans. It’s Wednesday, Dec. 18, and we’re covering the European Super League relaunch, Mudryk’s failed drug test and much more. First time reading? Sign up here.

FIXTURES

English League Cup, Quarter-finals: Arsenal vs Crystal Palace, 19:30 / 14:30. While Palace are on a five-match unbeaten away run in all competitions, Arsenal have won the last four meetings between the two sides. Newcastle vs Brentford, 19:45 / 14:45. Newcastle have beaten two Premier League sides in this year’s EFL Cup. Meanwhile, Brentford are yet to win an away league match this season. Southampton vs Liverpool, 20:00 / 15:00. While Southampton reached the final as recently as 2017, they sit bottom of the Premier League, nine points from safety. Liverpool scraped a win at St Mary’s last month in a five-goal thriller. See the full list of fixtures here.

Results…

• Women’s Champions League: Real Madrid 1 - 2 Chelsea | Twente 3 - 0 Celtic | Lyon 1 - 0 Wolfsburg | Roma 3 - 0 Galatasaray (Today’s action)

• Coppa Italia, Last 16: Juventus 4 - 0 Cagliari

TOP TALKING POINTS

European Super League Relaunches

The organisers of the failed European Super League have proposed a new competition. Rebranded as ‘Unify League,’ Madrid-based A22 Sports says the new tournament they propose favours “open competition”. Dive deeper into why the European Super League faced opposition previously here.

Unify League scraps the notion that certain clubs qualify automatically every year. Instead, the competition would divide into four leagues – Star, Gold, Blue and Union – with 16 teams each in the first two, and 32 in the second two. In the top two leagues, the top four teams in each group would then proceed to the knockout rounds, with the top two in each group in Blue and Union advancing to the last 16.

The proposal is a direct competitor to the Champions League, which A22 has described as UEFA’s “monopoly” on cross-border competition in European club football. As part of the proposal, A22 has asked UEFA and FIFA to formally recognise its right to organise their “new cross-border European club football competition”.

La Liga’s president has already slammed the proposal. In a separate statement, the Spanish league said that Unify League “still has no support from clubs, federations, players, fans and institutions.” While the Premier League hasn’t given a statement, sources claim that clubs haven’t signed up to the new project.

Vini Jr & Bonmati Win Best Awards

Vinicius Jr wins FIFA’s Best Men’s Player and Aitana Bonmati wins Best Women’s Player for 2024. Meanwhile, the men’s coach award was handed to Carlo Ancelotti, while the women’s equivalent was awarded to Emma Hayes. See the full list of award winners here.

Vinicius played a key role in Real's Champions League and La Liga-winning campaign in 2023-24, scoring 24 goals and providing 11 assists. Bonmati won every possible trophy at club level last season as Barcelona secured a historic quadruple. She was also awarded the Ballon d’Or in 2023 and 2024.

Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho picked up the FIFA Puskas Award – awarded to the player who has scored the best goal of the year. See the overhead kick here. Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez was named the Best Men’s Goalkeeper for the second time in three years.

Mudryk Drug Ban

Chelsea forward Mykhailo Mudryk has been provisionally suspended by the FA after failing a drugs test. The Premier League confirmed the finding came from a routine urine test. In a statement, Mudryk denied knowingly using any banned substance.

Sources claim (paywall) that the Ukrainian tested positive for meldonium, a medication used to treat heart conditions. For athletes, it can assist with endurance and the capacity to recover from exercise. The drug was included in the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list in January 2016. Former tennis player Maria Sharapova tested positive for the substance in March 2016 and was banned for 24 months.

While it’s unclear how long of a ban Mudryk would face if he is found guilty, he could face a maximum four-year ban or a minimum of one month. Importantly, Mudryk’s ‘A’ sample tested positive. But results for the ‘B’ sample are yet to be known.

POLL

ON THE BALL

Europe

> Marcus Rashford reveals he’s ready to leave Manchester United in an interview (More) | Spurs lose their appeal against Rodrigo Bentancur’s ban (More) | Vitor Pereira agrees to an 18-month deal as Wolves head coach (More) | Wolves striker Matheus Cunha has been charged with misconduct by the FA (More)

> Dani Olmo, Barcelona’s €60m signing, could leave on a free transfer in January as the club struggles to register the player (More / paywall)

> Xabi Alonso has spent more than €60,000 on replica Bundesliga trophies for his coaching staff (More) | Fiorentina forward Moise Kean releases rap album (More) | Chris Kamara returns to broadcasting two years after stepping back due to a rare brain disorder (More)

Americas

> Ronaldo Nazario is running for president of the Brazilian Football Federation (More)

> Lionel Messi’s animated series to air on Disney Channel (More) | Neymar Jr is reportedly eyeing a move to Inter Miami (More)

> Becky Sauerbrunn, two-time World Cup winner and former U.S. national team captain, has retired after a 16-year career (More) | The Leagues Cup 2025 will be played from July 29 to August 31, 2025 (More)

Rest of the World

> Fans to be banned from drinking alcohol in stadiums at the Saudi 2034 World Cup (More)

> Steve Holland, former England assistant coach, has been named the new manager of Yokohama F Marinos, the J.League side (More)

> FIFPro, the players’ union, is calling for mandatory four-week off-season breaks and two-week in-season breaks for women’s football to safeguard players from overload (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Yesterday, we asked you: Which matters more at a football club: culture or tactics?

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 💃 Culture... (74%)

🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🪖 Tactics... (25%)

⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other... (1%)

Your punditry takes:

• 💃 Z.Z: “Tactics can win a game, but a proper club culture is the foundation of a long-term successful campaign and project.”

• 💃 J.M: “I think both are very important and having good culture and awful tactics would be just as unworkable as the reverse, but I think culture is slightly more important as happier, more satisfied players are naturally going to play better and work harder for the team.”

• ✍️ T.S: “It depends on where a team is in their journey. The right culture comes before the right tactics, but both are required to win. Man U needs a new culture, Spurs need new tactics.”

EXTRA TIME

Which league will have the fifth Champions League space next season?

The Canadian owner looking to follow Reynolds’ lead.

Sky’s best Premier League forward of all time.

The best male footballers in the world in 2024 from 100-71.

Why Jose Mourinho isn’t learning Turkish. (via X)

Boston stadium to be renovated for women’s team faces opposition.

Adriano has a retirement match eight years after his last appearance.

Opta’s latest Premier League relegation predictions.

How to become a football agent.

Ademola Lookman after winning the African Player of the Year. (via X)

GAME FACE ON

Question: Which is the only club that has been champions of Europe more times than champions of their own country?

Clue: Consecutive.

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

FIFA Intercontinental Cup Final

• Real Madrid vs Pachuca (17:00)

English League Cup

• Arsenal vs Crystal Palace (19:30)

• Newcastle vs Brentford (19:45)

• Southampton vs Liverpool (20:00)

Women’s Champions League

• Barcelona vs Man City (17:45)

• St Polten vs Hammerby (17:45)

• Arsenal vs Bayern Munich (20:00)

• Juventus vs Valerenga (20:00)

La Liga

• Espanyol vs Valencia (20:30)

• Villarreal vs Vallecano (20:30)

Coppa Italia Last 16

• Atalanta vs Cesena (17:30)

• Roma vs Sampdoria (20:00)

Ligue 1

• Monaco vs PSG (20:00)

*All time in UK. ET -5. CST -6. PST -8. MST -7. CET +1.

Answer

Nottingham Forest.