Liverpool out of Champions League: Mo Salah left 'absolutely devastated'

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah could not stop himself from sharing his frustration after his team failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League next season. Their fate was sealed when Manchester United defeated Chelsea 4-1 on Thursday, coupled with their own draw against Aston Villa last weekend.

The draw ended Liverpool's seven-game winning streak, and the results meant that it is now mathematically impossible for Jurgen Klopp's men, who now sit in fifth, to make it to fourth place in the league table. The Red Devils are currently six points ahead in third place, while fourth-placed Newcastle are four points clear of Liverpool with only one match remaining.

This is a big blow for the 2019 Champions League winners, who have not missed out on qualifying for Europe's top tier competition since the 2016/2017 season. Salah was left so frustrated that he immediately took to social media to share his feelings.

In a tweet, he shared a black-and-white photo of himself and said: "I'm totally devastated. There's absolutely no excuse for this. We had everything we needed to make it to next year's Champions League and we failed. We are Liverpool and qualifying to the competition is the bare minimum. I am sorry but it's too soon for an uplifting or optimistic post. We let you and ourselves down."

Apart from United and Newcastle, Premier League winners and runners-up Manchester City and Arsenal also qualified for the Champions League. Despite the setback, Klopp and his men will be aiming to dominate the Europa League next season, but Salah is not yet feeling upbeat about the challenge.

Liverpool suffer a massive economic blow

Failing to qualify for the Champions League is not only a blow to the ego of Liverpool, but it also translates to a significant economic setback. After losing out on the top four spots in the Premier League, they are set to lose approximately £50m in prize money and participation fees. More losses could also come from a drop in sponsorship revenue and gate sales.

This will affect Liverpool's ability to strengthen the squad this summer, as they prepare for a fresh start. They will want to finish higher in the Premier League next season, and will need to make wise investments in the market in the coming months.

According to The Sun, Liverpool earned close to £160m last season after finishing in second place behind Manchester City. After falling down to fifth place this year, that will slash their share of the league's broadcast revenue by around £6.6 million.

Meanwhile, the large chunk of the losses will stem from missing out on Champions League football. To put things into perspective, Liverpool made it to the top-16 of this year's competition before they were knocked out by reigning champions Real Madrid. After only making it that far, Liverpool were able to bag €67.7m (£58.9m) from UEFA.

If they had qualified into the group stage again next season, that's already a guaranteed revenue of €15.6m (£13.5m). This is the base participation fee paid by UEFA to all 32 qualified teams. Then, UEFA also pays out close to €2.8m (£2.4m) for each group stage win plus an additional payment of about €9.6m (£8.3m) for making it into the knockout stages. Further earnings can also be derived from ten-year club coefficient rankings which are used by UEFA to determine revenue distribution between participating clubs.

After qualifying to the Europa League, Liverpool are set to take home only €3.6m (£3.1) in participation fees. As for the group stage wins, they are set to earn only €360,000 (£313,000) per victory. If they make it into the knockout stages, that's an additional €500,000 (£435,000). Needless to say, the difference in payouts between the two competitions is staggering.

Sponsorship revenue will also be affected, with deals likely to involve performance bonuses. Several millions could be lost from some of the club's biggest sponsors just from failing to qualify into the Champions League.

Meanwhile, apart from having less money to work with, the lack of European football will make the club a lot less attractive to potential signings.