For the past 5 years, the Champions League has been the fuel that has kept Liverpool’s fire burning strong, despite domestic form. One bad weekend result could easily be put aside with a glamorous, high-octane mid-week fixture. With the first game of the Europa League group-stage kicking off on Thursday evening, against Steaua Bucharest, we will truly feel the full brunt of just how badly last season has hit the club. Not just in the opposition (or the competitions perceived lack of importance monetarily) but in the psychological effect that the absence of Champions League football will be having on the club and the first team squad.
Money-wise, even a disastrous Champions League campaign would probably benefit the club more. As an officially commissioned report by MasterCard points out – even failing at the group-stage of the Champions League earns the ‘top clubs’, on average, around €32 million (£28.39 million). A club can earn as much as €55 million (around £50 million) from winning the competition, although the total would probably surpass this commercially. To earn close to that €32 million, Liverpool would need to win the Europa League. While the monetary gap has closed over the years, there is still a massive difference in revenue drawn from these two competitions which makes the Champions League such a huge draw for clubs, so Liverpool’s revenue loss from being absent is all too clear.
However, heading into Thursday evenings ‘big’ game; the first of Liverpool’s group-stage games, it is psychologically that the club may feel it most. Being excluded from the ‘top table’; watching a club like Tottenham taking our place; it’s hard to feel inspired by the consolation prize. Steaua Bucharest are a great reflection of a side that Liverpool was competing against in the 70’s and 80’s for the European Cup; a top side, with world-class players but now struggling to make its’ way through Europe’s second-choice competition. Such a small draw is it now that Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson is opting to rest his captain and best outfield player for the tie. Some would argue that this is with a view to the huge grudge match on Sunday afternoon but if Steaua were Barca and the Europa was the Champions League then it is hard to imagine any Liverpool manager resting his two best players. And this is where the problem lies: there is a huge hole in LFC’s season. The days of the past 5 years – when big fixtures and tasty clashes against the continents top sides had us salivating all weekend long – are absent this year. We have tasted too much of the best competition in club football now for anything else to compare, so when the manager rests his two best players in the opening game, we have to admit to ourselves that… we kind of understand his reasoning.
The implications are far greater, however as Liverpool’s top players come down from the highs of seasons past; watching Arsenal, Chelsea, United and Tottenham, competing with the elite. It is in indication that the fans, the club, and more importantly the players have nothing to look forward to in midweek, and given the massive Tuesday and Wednesday nights that this club has experienced in the past 5 years, this could be hugely damaging on a morale and psychological level for Liverpool. As much for the fans as the players, as both must be watching the mid-week fixtures thinking that should be us. A loss at the weekend, or a bad performance by a group of players can no longer be repaired immediately in front of a packed Anfield, with great support for a massive match and that special atmosphere that only comes with the Champions League (even its’ most pointless games). A dreary, wet Sunday afternoon kickoff can no longer be washed away by a visit to AC Milan or the arrival of the European Champions on Merseyside, creating a party atmosphere throughout the city. To put it plainly – the magic appears to have gone for some of these players, and it seems to have been extinguished with the loss of Champions League football.
After a game like Sundays, watching Fernando Torres disinterestedly labouring away; Steven Gerrard struggling to now reproduce his England form at club level, and the rest of the side look creatively bankrupt was depressing and this Liverpool side’s usual saving grace is now gone. The knock-on effect of this is that, as the season progresses, the absence of this mid-week impetus after a bad weekend result could affect the club’s qualification for next seasons’ Champions League too. The implications of failing to qualify again this year do not need to be spelled out for anybody. Despite how they must be feeling watching the four competing English sides, Liverpool’s players have to pull their thumbs out – both figuratively and literally – and prepare for Sunday afternoon, as that game has to be the beginning of Liverpool clawing their way back to the top table and ending the season as a top-four side.
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I think Spurs will get found out this year. The noises they keep making are that they will be third this year. The pressure is on them to keep it up. We’ll see.