WHAT’S SO FAIR ABOUT SEVEN TITLES IN A ROW?

Like his predecessor, karl-Heinz Rummenigge, European Club Association president Andrea Agnelli (below) has one way of talking: through his wallet.

Just as Rummenigge never said a word, or endorsed a policy, that would not greatly benefit Bayern Munich, so Agnelli’s statements are entirely to the advancement of Juventus. His latest is in support of UEFA’s new financial fair play initiative.

‘ It will be even more effective than the ones in place, which delivered astonishing results,’ he said. Well, yes, for Juventus. They had long been Italy’s biggest club, but were not consistently dominant. Post-war, Juventus had never won more than back-to-back titles, and had done the domestic double twice. Right now, they are on a Serie A record of seven straight title wins, and four domestic doubles.

FFP has turned a relatively competitive league into a procession — just as it has in Germany with Bayern Munich’s supremacy.

In the 13 seasons between 1989 and 2001, even with AC Milan claiming five titles, seven different clubs won Serie A. Now, it is another oneteam league. Not only do Juventus always win, Roma and Napoli have shared second and third place in four of the last five seasons. So, yes, astonishing results. Astonishing that so few identify FFP as the weapon of the cosy cartels that now control European football.

THE rush to judgment is in, and the UEFA Nations League has been pronounced a success. Of course it has. Playing Spain in a competitive match is obviously preferable to playing them in a friendly. Yet the opening games were always going to be the best of it. With these three-team groups we still have to deal with dead rubbers, the play-off finals, and then the utter confusion when the next stage of qualifying — the actual European Championship qualifying groups — take hold. Come back after that, and we’ll talk.

JOSE MOURINHO is frequently mocked for Chelsea’s sale of kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah, so it is only fair to acknowledge that he called it dead right over the useless waste of space Papy Djilobodji.

Djilobodji returned late to Sunderland this season and so unfit that the club have sacked him, and wish to sue for damages. They should aim to make him responsible for at least some of the £8m they paid Chelsea in 2016. What an overpriced, over-rated apology for a professional footballer he has been.