Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 8y

Bayern Munich fans protest against European Super League vs. Benfica

Bayern Munich fans have protested against plans to introduce a European Super League, which has been backed by club CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in recent months.

There has been renewed talk in 2016 of creating a European Super League where major clubs from Spain, England, Germany, Italy and France divisions could go head to head.

In mid-March, Rummenigge, who is also the chairman of the European Club Association, told FAZ that clubs and UEFA are considering a third European competition to be placed above Champions League and Europa League.

The German broadsheet said in its story that UEFA planned "an evolution of the club competitions," and that qualification for the new league could also, at least in some parts, be down to the "attractiveness of the clubs and their importance in marketing."

During Tuesday's Champions League match against Benfica, Bayern fans took the chance to protest on the big stage as they displayed several banners during the first half.

The supporters hit out at Bayern's internationalisation strategy, which also includes the club's leading role in pushing the German Football League toward more marketable Monday night games.

"Sporting spirit has to animate all who call themselves Bayern. Seedings, wildcard, Super League. Stop that nonsense," one banner displayed on the Sudtribune read, and another one had "Monday night games or Super League -- football remains the loser."

At the weekend, Bayern supporters and their Borussia Dortmund counterparts had protested with banners against the introduction of Monday night games.

Since no Bundesliga matches can be played on May 1 due to constraints on policing over the national bank holiday, either Stuttgart will take to the field against Werder Bremen on Monday, May 2, or, should Borussia Dortmund reach the Europa League semifinals, BVB will host Wolfsburg on that day.

"Nobody is in favour of a further fragmentation of the match day," Rummenigge said at the weekend. "The problem is that we all want a lot of money from TV, and that's why we have to add sugar to the coffee."

On Tuesday, Bayern supporters replied directly to the CEO when displaying a banner reading: "Your coffee will be English tea soon. And that doesn't taste well."

Following Bayern's Champions League win over Juventus in the round of 16, Rummenigge had also called for the introduction of a seeding structure saying that he's had "enough of fate" and bemoaned the Italian's exit, while citing Atletico Madrid's fixture against PSV Eindhoven as an example for a match he nearly "switched off."

But speaking following Atletico's 2-1 defeat at Barcelona on Tuesday, club chief Miguel Angel Gil Marin hit out at the Bayern boss.

He said: "Rummenigge wants semifinals between those clubs who are in charge, and he will end up getting what he wants. Football is not owned by the eight biggest clubs in Europe. Football belongs to everyone and should be like that."

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