#5 The Race for Europe
Trending
Let’s begin with absolutes. Champions League football next season is of the utmost importance to both clubs. Not only because of the additional revenue it brings in but also because success in the competition is the real mark of true success during a Manager’s reign (Just ask Arsenal fans). It allows you to shop for players anywhere in Europe and increases your club’s visibility as a brand. It is Europe’s premier competition and it is where managerial legacies are built.
With Liverpool currently engaged in performing their best collective impression of 1989, three Champions League spots are technically still up for grabs with Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal and Everton being the interested parties. Failure to qualify for the tournament will be considered disastrous for all of the clubs except Everton.
This means that every victory and subsequent three points picked up by any of these teams will greatly diminish the chances of the others. A win for either club in the derby will not only consolidate their place in the top four but also result in the loser looking nervously at the teams below them in the table rather than the ones above.
A comprehensive loss could greatly damage the psyche and a Manchester United collapse could mean no Champions League football, no Griezmann, another year where Pogba exists almost permanently under the media microscope and further damage the Mourinho brand.
Wouldn't it please Manchester City and Pep Guardiola to bits if they instigated the collapse? A false dawn yet again at United?
“We were the ones who killed the sun,” Pep would share with close friends and family over the course of the offseason, with the beginnings of a smile on his face.
