Naming the most important club game in club football is perhaps
more of a poser than you’d think.
There are two major contenders for the title and both will
occur today. The case for one challenger, the UEFA Champions League Final is based
around the prestige (and money) that accompanies winning the title of best team
in the best league in the most competitive confederation. The case for the other
competitor, the English League Championship Playoff Final, revolves around the
money (and prestige) that accompanies promotion to the world’s richest league.
The monies on offer are truly remarkable. For winning the
most lucrative club competition on Earth, either Real or Atletico Madrid will
pocket up
to €50 million (or about 1/10th of Atleti’s debt); while
estimates vary on the worth of promotion to the English Premier League, recent
hearsay puts the financial windfall for Derby County or Queens Park Rangers somewhere between £80-120
million – potentially three times as much as for the continent’s premier
competition.
Players would certainly opt for the Champions League.
Administrators, depending on the club, might flip-flop depending on the media
forum in which they’re speaking. Fans – well, that’s a different story.
It goes without saying that the Champions League trophy
carries just a little more kudos than does the award presented to (at best) the
third-best club in England’s second division. As are sponsorship opportunities –
for Atletico, at any rate. But, as clubs like Birmingham City, Leeds United and
Norwich
City have discovered recently, the revenues that the Premiership generates can
be life-sustaining (or at least life-altering) – potentially more so than
victory in the Champions League.
The counterargument is based purely on the reasons behind
football as a concept – do you watch to see your team excel, or is a high, Icarian
flight (c.f. Portsmouth) that ends in a near-fatal swan dive worth the fiscal
risk not worth the risk? As a fan – or administrator – do you value survival and/or
the opportunity to test yourself in an achievable competition, or the
(pen)ultimate glory? You play to win the game – but at all costs?
The most important game in club football then depends very
much on the audience and can be distilled down to one paraphrase: Survive, or
advance?
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