Karl-Heinz Rummenigge on attempts to revive the Super League project: "Nobody in Germany would move into the Super League, that would cause a revolution among the fans."
Did they try with Bayern [to join]?
KHR: "Yes, but they didn't come to me. They tried with Oliver Kahn, my designated successor at the time. Me, Uli Hoeneß and president Hainer said: “Never with us. We want to win, but within the rules” - PSG thought so as well"
Rummenigge: "It's not going to go anywhere. English, German and French teams will never take part. Then Real and Barcelona can play the tournament by themselves"
Rummenigge: "Serie A would become Serie B and the Bundesliga the second division. And do you know why all this? To damage the Premier League which earns more simply because it is better. Especially the Spanish clubs - they wanted to damage it [the Premier League] so they invented this tournament. We would then say goodbye to Juve-Cagliari, goodbye to Bayern-Bielefeld."
Rummenigge: "When I was at Inter there was no game comparable to the derby. The same at Bayern: nothing like playing Dortmund and now Leverkusen. The leagues have existed for a lifetime, for several lifetimes. They are the roots of football. UEFA is doing its best to defend football in everyone's interest - with a stable Executive board and a courageous president like Čeferin"
Rummenigge: "A Super League with the top European teams was just an alibi - their goal is to include Arabs, Americans, hold an international tournament and lose their roots. They have all been rejected culturally, football-wise and economically"
Rummenigge: "UEFA offers the best possible tournament, the new 36-team Champions League will be even more spectacular and open. Have you seen Copenhagen's celebrations for reaching the round of 16? They were expected to finish last, they qualified and for them it seemed like Christmas. Must the usual teams always win? Not in football, in football there is the unthinkable, the emotion. It's not mathematics."
What is left of the Super League?
Rummenigge: "Two Spanish clubs. Juve are out, at least that's what it seems to me. Maybe we should have understood Florentino [Perez] better, he has an economic vision above all. I think other Spanish and Italian teams wouldn't participate either, unless there's some president who thinks he'll go to bed and wake up the next day in the midst of gold"
Rummenigge: "I played football and I know when you lose, you have to admit defeat. It's a fact that Europe rejected this project. All that is missing now is legal confirmation. They [Real and Barcelona] have to admit defeat"
Are you worried it could still go through?
Rummenigge: "Not now. I was [worried] the night they announced the Super League. There were twelve of them, they had tried in vain to convince us and others, they were on the verge of breaking up. I thought: “What if they really start a revolution? It would be chaos”. In two days the bubble burst. I was at the stadium watching Bayern and Ceferin sent me texts every five minutes to say: Chelsea, Liverpool, City have withdrawn... It was over"
