ANCELOTTI: I THOUGHT IT WAS JOKE

V Emirates stadium, 8pm

Arsenal Everton

CARLO ANCELOTTI is adamant the Super League project was doomed from the start because the clubs failed to listen to players, managers or the fans.

The Everton boss (above) has been in charge at four of the sides involved in the secret negotiations and was also manager at Paris Saintgermain and Bayern Munich, who were both invited to join.

So the former Juventus, Milan, Real Madrid and Chelsea chief knows what he is talking about, and he passionately believes the plans were always fundamentally flawed.

He said: “I thought it was a joke and I was sure it was not going to happen, because, what can I say – they were wrong.

“These 12 clubs were wrong, full stop, because they didn’t take into account the two most important parts.

“One is the players and the managers also, and the other part is the supporters.”

Ancelotti agrees the Champions League needs reform, thinks the Premier League could be improved – and is also not against the idea of a salary cap.

“The salary caps means less money for the manager, means less money for the players,” he said.

“But to try to equalise, a little bit, the competition I think it can be an idea.”

The Italian said another issue that doomed the Super League was the lack of “sporting merit” – the ability of all clubs to compete, with the best team winning and with no closed shop.

And he hopes to demonstrate that mentality at Super League rebels Arsenal tonight, adding: “The sports culture in Europe is different to America because in Europe we live with the passion of the result.

“We’re born to have sporting merit. If you’re better than another team, you have to win – you have to play the best competition. I hope to win at Arsenal with merit.”

ARSENAL: Leno, Bellerin, Holding, Gabriel, Soares, Xhaka, Ceballos, Saka, Smith-rowe, Martinelli, Nketiah. EVERTON: Pickford, Holgate, Keane, Godfrey, Iwobi, Davies, Allan, Digne, James, Calvert-lewin, Richarlison