The perverse irony of the Super League-haunted semi-finals - The Mail & Guardian

There’s an uncomfortable irony in the way events lined up in the last few weeks. First, we got confirmation of our Champions League semi finalists — Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Chelsea — four teams which, for different reasons, will be desperate to bring home the full thing.

Still, when the TV is flicked alive on Tuesday evening, there is likely to be a fresh wave of regret that passes over our collective fandom. A realisation that the current structures of European football remain imperfect. Consider Real Madrid — Spanish for Royal Madrid. Historically, the club was the jewel of the repressive Spanish dictatorship. General Francisco Franco, in power from 1939 until his death in 1975,openly supported them and paraded them as nationalistic symbols of excellence and uniformity. There is considerable debate as to justbut what is undoubtable, despite modern sportswashing attempts, is that Real have long stood as the team of the establishment.

Long after Franco’s death, a Russian oligarch would arrive in England and permanently alter its footballing landscape. Spending sprees were not uncommon when Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003, but arguably there had never been one that so dramatically elevated a side from the outskirts of contention right to the very peak.

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