Monday April 18, 2022 will mark a year since plans for a new breakaway European Super League (ESL) were revealed to the world. 

The scheme, involving 12 of Europe's top football clubs, was the brainchild of Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.

The project fell apart when nine of the clubs, including six from England's Premier League, said they were pulling out following fierce opposition from fans, politicians and national football's governing bodies.  

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However, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus have remained on board, with Perez vowing to press ahead regardless.

CGTN Europe went to Real Madrid's Bernabeu stadium ahead of the team's UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg against Chelsea to find out what fans thought of the ESL one year on.

The original version of the ESL would've seen the founding clubs as permanent members of the league, mitigating the risk of relegation, which led to accusations of elitism and lack of competitiveness.

CGTN Europe spoke to one English fan who was at the Bernabeu. He recalls there was fierce opposition to the plans in the UK a year ago.

"I just thought it was an absolutely terrible idea, the structure of the idea was bad, the way it was put across was bad, and it happened overnight as well," he said. "And the fans weren't putting up with that."

However, that view wasn't shared by a Real Madrid fan, who said: "I hope it happens because it could be something good to step away from UEFA since they're not doing things well, they need a competitor."

Legal battle

The remaining ESL trio of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus are challenging UEFA in the European Court of Justice.

They claim the decision by European football's governing body to block the ESL last year and to sanction the clubs involved was an abuse of a dominant position and a breach of European competition law.

If the Court rules in the trio's favour, expect new ESL proposals 2.0 to follow soon after.

Juan Castro is a journalist for the Spanish sports newspaper Marca. He told CGTN Europe that Perez was too stubborn to let the ESL fail. 

"I think that it is a matter of pride from Florentino Pérez," he said. "He's a businessman used to success, a really successful manager in the world of sport, so he doesn't want to give up on a project that has been proved to be a failure."

Champions League expansion 

A different version of the ESL may already be on its way. On May 10, UEFA's executive committee is expected to make a final decision on a major revamp to the current Champions League, to come into force for the 2024-25 season.

The most controversial aspect of the new format would see two qualification berths given to sides based on historic European performance rather than domestic achievement.

In the words of one supporters group, "It's the creation of the Super League via the backdoor."