The Premier League is back: welcome to the new era of post-verdict unreality | Barney Ronay

As the top flight returns, armed with the knowledge its serial champions have been the authors of a 10-year sham supremacy, the first question is simple: how is it going to feel? The internet: an apology. It turns out you were right. It was actually a simulation all along.

Now, talk to me about chemtrails again. And yes, maybe Vinícius Júnior has been replaced by a handsome, baffled-looking waxwork. Welcome to the weirdest weekend of them all. We are now post-judgment, post-statement, postlapsarian. As the Premier League prepares to snap back…