Securing a place in the Champions League, even a fourth place play off spot, has become even more important for top clubs. Getting to the group stage alone is worth £30m. Getting further could yield £50m as against £6m for a successful run in the Europa League.
Securing a place in the Champions League, even a fourth place play off spot, has become even more important for top clubs. Getting to the group stage alone is worth £30m. Getting further could yield £50m as against £6m for a successful run in the Europa League.
It’s not just the money itself that is important. Top players want to play in the Champions League and qualification helps to attract them, as well as providing the money for higher salaries. Failure to qualify one year makes it harder next year unless the money is available for a major strengthening of the squad.
The financial fair play guidelines provide an additional constraint, not less for Chelsea who have lost £182.4m or £3.2m a game over the last four seasons. If they lose today, they could be out of touch with qualification.