Blood Red: Naby Keita & Jake Cain start | Team Selector | Midtjylland vs Liverpool
![UP NEXT]()
UP NEXT
On the field the chasm between Liverpool and Manchester United has been continually growing for some time.
United's dominance of the 1990s and 2000s was never likely to continue unopposed, but with no Premier League title to their name since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013 the drought has been particularly prominent.
And it doesn't look like a situation that will be remedied any time soon.
United exited the Champions League at the group stages in Germany on Tuesday evening, a 3-2 defeat at the hands of RB Leipzig, a team who were playing in the fourth tier of German football, the Regionalliga Nordost, the season Ferguson departed Old Trafford.
Fast forward seven years and United find themselves trailing behind the likes of RB Leipzig, the party poopers of German football, while former glories have been restored at their old adversary, Liverpool.
For Ole Gunnar Solksjaer the exit from European club football's premier knockout competition and a drop into the Europa League and their dreaded 'Thursday nights on Channel Five (when that happened)' mean a significant hit to club finances.
United's exit means that miss out on £8.6m in prize money handed out to those who successfully navigate their way through to the knockout stages, as well as all the potential money that is accrued with further progression.
Their financial gain from the Europa League will be a fraction of what they would get from the Champions League. To put it in context, qualifying for the knockout phase would have been worth around £1m more than winning the Europa League.
United's record of three wins and three defeats and failure to qualify means that they have taken £20.7m in prize money this season, £13.5m of that gained for appearing in the group stages of the competition.
If you compare their figure with what Liverpool have gained so far through their record and successful qualification, and should they beat winless FC Midtjylland this evening, it comes in at £34.1m, and with more revenue to be generated.
Liverpool look well placed to make a strong defence of their Premier League title this season, with Champions League football pretty much a given again for next season even at this stage, barring a catastrophe on the pitch.
The same cannot be said for United, Solksjaer's side's regression since the heyday of Ferguson meaning that other clubs have now made ground on them to challenge for a place at Europe's top table.
Tottenham Hotspur have grown into a major force while Leicester City have become part of the conversation around Champions League qualification.
Manchester United's global brand remains enormous and still ranks at the head of the pack when it comes to getting commercial deals done, but continued stagnation means that it isn't a well on which they can always rely.
The most recent accounts, published in October, took into account some of the damaging effects of the coronavirus pandemic on club finances, with revenue down from £627.1m to £509m while net debt, something which has long rankled with United fans over the ownership of the Glazers, was up 133 per cent to £474.1m.
United had to take a £4m per year drop in income from their shirt deal with Chevrolet, while they managed to stop a £25m drop in revenue from Adidas last season after qualification for the Champions League. Had they missed out on qualification for this season's competition it would have meant a second year without, and their kit supplier would have been able to reduce their payments from £75m to £50m.
In comparison, Liverpool managed to get a £2m per year uplift on their sleeve sponsorship with travel firm Expedia during the pandemic.
Despite all this the Glazers were able to take out £20m in share dividends in the past year, with more due to come.
When you put where United are at now and compare them to Liverpool the differences are stark from top to bottom.
Since Fenway Sports Group took over the Reds back in 2010 the measured approach to success has reaped rewards, a Champions League title and a first Premier League title in 30 years their crowning achievements thus far.
Investment both on and off the pitch, the latest being the £50m move away from Melwood to a new training facility in Kirkby, and the removal of debt that had been placed on the club by the execrable Tom Hicks and George Gillett before FSG, means that the Reds have taken the past decade to build on and off the pitch.
United's has been a tale of decline and one that raises real concerns for them as to what the next 10 years look like at Old Trafford.
The on-pitch dominance has ended, the financial one could also fall if they do not address the root cause soon enough. There cannot be one without the other for an indefinite period of time.