they'll be meeting officials at the european commission tomorrow as our sports correspondent richard conway reports. it's spectacular. it's gareth bale. the champions league, the pinnacle of club football but the future of the competition has been in doubt in recent weeks. leaked documents suggested real madrid, who won their 11th title in may, were part of a plot to create a new super league with the continent's topsides. with the continent's top sides. but any breakaway plan is now dead, according to two of the european game's biggest power brokers, speaking exclusively to me in a clear display of unity. the super league is, in a way, fiction now, or a dream. super league will not happen. this is out of the question. and i think clubs can confirm it. do you agree with that? we are fully engaged with uefa in shaping up the game going forward.

big european nights of football are already lucrative but many teams want significant growth. any format changes would only come into force in 2024 with the possibility for more international fixtures between europe's biggest club sides at the expense of domestic league and cup matches. we want a rebalancing of international games versus domestic games and this is something we have been debating with uefa. it's notjust about english clubs or spanish clubs or italian clubs but it's also polish, dutch, scottish, finnish, latvian. they all want to see more international games because it's about building brand equity. a0 years ago, when nottingham forest won their european titles, the focus was all on football. the fear amongst fans is it is all about the money. what lies behind some of these proposals is clearly corporate greed and wanting to make more and more money for a small number of companies but it's a real contempt for football supporters because, without football supporters,

none of those clubs, none of those companies, would be anything. but the man at the head of european football says supporters have nothing to worry about. there shouldn't be any fear from the fans. the competition will only be more interesting and more inclusive. trophies are not football's only reward these days. clubs are increasingly commercially minded. the real prize is to ensure the game holds onto its heritage while all of football prospers. richard conway, bbc news. newsnight‘s about to begin over on bbc2 in a few moments with kirsty wark. here on bbc one time for the news where you are... hello and welcome to sportsday. i'mjohn watson.

dutch delight for van dijk as the netherlands reach the finals of the nations league, as the world champions france miss out. a major doubt for the world cup — england and arsenal'sjordan nobbs suffers a serious knee injury. and a fast track to full recovery — two months after suffering a mini—stroke, michaeljohnson hasn't lost that competitive streak. iam i am confident i'll make a full recovery and, not only will i make a full recovery, i'll do it faster than anybody has ever done this before. the netherlands scored two late goals in a dramatic 2—2 draw with germany to earn the point they needed to top the table, joining england, switzerland

and portugal in next year's finals of the nations league — and, in a group alongside france and the former world champions, who would have predicted that? germany took an early lead thanks to timo werner and added a quick second through manchester city's leroy sane. at that point, france were topping the group and on their way to next summer's finals. but, with five minutes to go, quincy promes struck — and, in added time, liverpool's virgil van dijk scored the equaliser. so the netherlands through, at the expense of the world champions france, and germany, who finish bottom and are relegated to the second tier of the competition. republic of ireland, already relegated from group b, drew 0—0 with group winners denmark tonight. it means martin o'neil's side are now without a goal in four games. they've mustered just one win in 11 games. how very different it is for scotland.

they'll secure promotion and guarantee a euro 2020 play—off spot if they beat israel at hampden park tomorrow night. both sides have six points after three matches. however, a draw would see israel top the group, thanks to their 2—1 win over scotland in haifa in october. but after saturday's 4—0 success in albania manager alex mcleish says spirits are high in the camp. it's a huge game for us, we know it is. we had a huge game at the weekend after the israel disappointment. and we absolutely nailed it. we just disappointment. and we absolutely nailed it. wejust have disappointment. and we absolutely nailed it. we just have to take that forward and realise it, and the players are under no illusions how big a game it is. they themselves as isaid, are big a game it is. they themselves as i said, are showing the body

language i'd like to see for a team going into a very important game. england and arsenal'sjordan nobbs could miss the rest of the season and is a doubt for next summer's women's world cup after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament. she has been in brilliant form for her club side. arsenal have a 100% record following eight wins in eight matches in the superleague. this was her scoring in sunday's win at everton, before suffering the knee injury. here's our sports reporter, emily croydon. she's a real driving force in midfield. she is the playmaker and one of the first names on phil neville‘s team sheet. at 25, she has 56 caps for england, seven goals, and she was named england player of the year in 2016. the world cup sta rts the year in 2016. the world cup starts in france on the 7th ofjune, six months away, and jordan nobbs‘s

recovery must be in doubt. recovery is case—by—case, but it typically ta kes is case—by—case, but it typically takes six months and, even if she we re takes six months and, even if she were to recover quicker than average, she'd have very little game time under her belt before the squad go to france. proposed plans for a breakaway european super league are fiction, according to the two most powerful officials in the european game. in an exclusive interview with the bbc, the uefa president and the chairman of the european club association have dismissed suggestions, amid rumours top clubs are thinking of forming a breakaway league. they've been speaking to richard conway. we started to discuss to host a 2k clu b we started to discuss to host a 2k club competition in europe. wejust started. there are ideas, there are d rafts, started. there are ideas, there are drafts, but it's absolutely too early to share it with the public, because we have to speak to our stakeholders, we have to speak to national associations, to clubs, but

we have some ideas. all i can say is any super league is out of the question. participation stays, and everybody will have a possibility to compete in every european competition. that stays for sure, because we agree about that. about details, we still discuss, so that's why it's a bit too early to share it in public. scrum half danny care has been dropped by england head coach eddie jones for the final test of their autumn series with australia at twickenham on saturday. he is one of three players to be axed from the squad following a laboured first half against japan last weekend. care scored their first try, but was replaced on the hour mark. alex lozowski and zach mercer also miss out while number eight nathan hughes returns, as does manu tuilangi. after their hugely impressive win over new zealand, ireland head coachjoe schmidt has released eight players from his squad for their match against the united states. that includes dan leavy, who's being treated for a neck strain.

schmidt is expected to name his starting team on thursday. racing driver sophia floersch has undergone ten hours of surgery following her crash in formula 3. she lost control at the macau grand prix in china and was taken to hospital with a broken back. billy monger, who lost both his legs in a crash 18 months ago, says it's impossible to eradicate the dangers. 0bviously obviously it's not nice to see, especially when i know sofia so well, and i've raced against her before in karting, so we've known each other for years. before in karting, so we've known each otherfor years. i'm glad mainly to hear that she's going to be hopefully out on the other side of it ok without serious injury. it's incredible after seeing the accident myself to be able to say that, because it looked a lot worse than hopefully what her injuries

are, seeing it first hand. but i guess that proves that safety is improving and developing. in early september, michaeljohnson, the athletics legend, suffered a mini—stroke. the four—time olympic champion and former world record holder over 200 and 400 metres says he is close to making a full recovery , but the early days after suffering the illness were tough. two days later i was allowed to start physical therapy, and this was probably the most sort of poignant moment in the transition for me. i was able to walk around my hospital floor for the first time. it was very difficult. and what was amazing was, er, we took a walk around the hospital floor, amazing was, er, we took a walk around the hospitalfloor, and it just happens to be about 200 metres.

ijust don't just happens to be about 200 metres. i just don't know why that was the case, but it was about 200 metres. and i timed it, because that'sjust what i do. and it was probably, i estimated when i got back it probably took me about 15 minutes to cover 200 metres, and ordinarily you'd probably think that would be very disconcerting and, er, i wouldn't have much hope that all, even that are used to be the fastest person in the world at a distance, but i was actually very encouraged. these tiny incremental improvements that i was able to achieve gave me hope, andi that i was able to achieve gave me hope, and i got back to my room and i told my wife, i am confident i'll make a full recovery and, not only will i make a full recovery, i'll make it faster than anybody has ever done this before. disgraced criceters steve smith, david warner and cameron bancroft could be back playing sooner than they thought.

they were all banned earlier this year for ball—tampering during the series with south africa. cricket australia is considering a formal request from the players union to end their bans early, and a decision is expected this week. and the five—time world darts champion raymond van barneveld is to retire from the sport. the dutchman, who's known as barney, will call it quits after the pdc world championship in 2020. he's one of only three players to have won five titles, but says he can no longer keep up with other players. it will be sad to see him go. that's all from sportsday. coming up in a moment, the papers. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be

bringing us tomorrow. with me are laura hughes, political correspondent at the ft and former fleet street editor eve pollard. let's take a look at some of tomorrow's front pages. the daily telegraph leads on the failure of tory brexiteers to unseat the prime minister — despite previous predictions that a vote of no confidence would be held early this week amid unhappiness over her draft brexit withdrawal agreement. the guardian carries a warning from the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, who says that tory rebels are risking "appalling chaos" in their efforts to oust theresa may. "brexit limbo may last for another four years" says the i, which looks at the mooted possibility of extending the uk's brexit transition period until 2022. the online independent focusses on the response from eu leaders to mrs may's brexit deal — with reports that spain

is threatening to reject the agreement over gibraltar. the daily mail splashes on a warning from the head of the police federation that front line officers may have to let violent criminals go if police don't get more support from members of the public as dangerous incidents are unfolding. the times claims that the company behind boots travel insurance is being investigated for medical negligence and fraud after the death of customers who were denied emergency flights home. the metro leads on news that the former england footballer paul gascoigne has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman on a train. and the financial times reports on the arrest of nissan's chief executive carlos ghosn over allegations of financial misconduct. let's begin with the police. we may have to let violent thugs go. we decided we'd like to lead on

something other than brexit. this is an interesting story. the police say they may have to let violent thugs go because what they are finding is, while they are trying to arrest them, other people are either film it or not helping or in fact harming them. and this is really worrying because, when i grew up, there was the holy trilogy, my mum, the teacher and the policeman. all the things that would threaten me if i ever did anything bad. and i don't know whether the police still go into schools, are still welcomed into schools, are still welcomed into schools, are still welcomed into schools, i don't know if anybody actually says to adults, if you want a safe country, and here we are ina you want a safe country, and here we are in a situation, certainly in london, where we have a barrage of terrible deaths of young men, young black men mostly, but young men... mainly knife crime, but