TOMMY MARTIN: Qatari soft power to broker a European Super League?

It’s quite a state of affairs when Real Madrid wield the sword of righteous justice in any particular contest. This is, after all, the club of General Franco’s favour, shady training ground construction deals, and gaudy Galactico excess, writes Tommy Martin.

But it felt that way when they were completing their expert filleting of Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night, condemning the French side to fume outside the Champions League VIP section for yet another season, waving their counterfeit tickets in the air, shouting “we paid good money for these!” It was strangely satisfying to watch PSG dissolve before our eyes from expensively-assembled, leather-upholstered luxury-club to huffy, demoralised rabble; the sight, it seemed, of the proper order of things being restored.

“You can’t buy the Champions League!” exclaimed 1,000 satisfied pundits, the annual humbling of the Qatari vanity project providing reassurance in a fast-changing world that some certainties — death, taxes, and the bludgeoning finality of a close-range Cristiano Ronaldo header — remain.