CHAMPIONS LEAGUE football returns to Old Trafford on Tuesday. Club Brugge are the visitors, and a win over two legs would see Manchester United take their expected place in the group stages.
That will mean an immediate reward of £9 million. When ancillary and TV revenue is taken into account, winning the competition would be worth around £70m, an increase of 50% on last season when United were absent.
But for once, when it comes to the most commercially-savvy club in the world, the money is secondary.
This competition is what United are all about. It goes back to Matt Busby defying the FA to compete for the first time, the Munich Air Disaster, that Wembley triumph in 1968 and Fergie completing the treble in ’99.
Since they last played in Europe in April, 2014, they’ve changed their manager and spent £221m on players to make sure they could reclaim their seat at the top table.
It’s a huge investment and it needs to bear dividends but far more important is the perception of the club across the continent.
United need to show they are big-time, not only in terms of transfer market muscle but also on the pitch.
The club has placed its faith in Louis van Gaal to achieve that goal. And they’ve not only given him unprecedented funds, they’ve also re-written history to make it easier for him.
The pressure on him has been mitigated by a concerted narrative coming out of the club that the squad he inherited from David Moyes was inadequate.
As those were Sir Alex Ferguson’s players, he couldn’t have done his job properly either. Which is nonsense considering he retired having just won the Premier League by 11 points.
The club’s vast treasure chest has been opened for Van Gaal. He has already been presented with nine new outfield players in 14 months, all current internationals, and none costing less than £12m.
He’s also been allowed to sign two experienced international keepers on free transfers, been given the service of Radamel Falcao for a year and allowed the luxury of losing £15m on Angel di Maria.
Van Gaal last won the European Cup 20 years ago and United don’t expect him to win it this year.
But it’s worth remembering Moyes reached the quarter-finals losing to Bayern Munich after being unbeaten in the group and topping it by four clear points.
That was deemed a failure at the time. Yet if Van Gaal replicates it he’ll be lauded.
As I said, the bar has been lowered.
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