Arsenal v West Brom - Highbury, kick-off 8.0 Live on Premiership Plus: Arsene Wenger said yesterday he thinks a European super league is inevitable as the top clubs prepare to fight UEFA's decision to reduce the Champions League to a single group stage.
More than 100 clubs will meet UEFA in Monte Carlo on Friday to discuss issues including the Champions League. The elite-club organisation G14, which includes Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Real Madrid but not Arsenal, plans a meeting in Monaco on the same day to discuss the revised format.
"We're at a crossroads and we have to go forwards," Wenger said. "Maybe this formula is not a satisfactory one but we cannot afford to go back. Ninety per cent of clubs are against it and I think there'll be a big confrontation. The simple reason is purely financial. The best way is to go forward and create a European league, which will create interest."
The Champions League format has been criticised for producing too many games that people do not want to see.
"The formula we have at the moment does not make all television happy," Wenger said. "The only way to keep everyone interested is to keep the countries involved all season. You cannot kill the domestic league: that is compulsory. But you have to create a shorter European league and have bigger squads at bigger clubs. It will happen or all of Europe will collapse."
Arsenal's vice-chairman David Dein has opposed talk of a European league as a replacement for the domestic league, but he also criticised UEFA for changing the Champions League. The maximum number of games will be cut from 17 to 13 and income reduced by at least £3 million a club. But UEFA's chief executive Gerhard Aigner said the changes, which come into force next season, are the right way to go.
"We therefore knew that our decision would not meet with unanimous approval, but we were sure of the wisdom of it. Unquestionable from a sporting point of view, it is also the right one on the economic front, when markets are under pressure and there is a need to think about the long-term well-being of the competition."
Arsenal, who will wait until the end of the week before signing a number two goalkeeper, will be without Dennis Bergkamp, out for a fortnight with a calf strain, when they meet West Bromwich at Highbury this evening.
West Brom have warned Lee Hughes his chances of returning are in peril. The sticking point appears to be the package the striker would get as Albion's wage structure does not allow them to match the £17,000 a week he is paid by Coventry.
