Basel – a fairly unremarkable city located at the confluence of the Swiss, German and French borders – does not usually dominate the headlines in its region, let alone internationally; indeed, perhaps its most convincing claim to fame has been as the home of the Bank for International Settlements, a lending institution of last resort for central banks around the world. Yet all that changed tonight, as FC Basel (‘FCB’) – a football club formed in 1893 by Joan Gamper, the same man who would go on to inaugurate FC Barcelona six years later – rocked the football world by eliminating Manchester United from their ‘natural’ European competition, the UEFA Champions League.
The 2-1 win at St. Jakob Park was a narrow one – FCB survived a late onslaught from their English visitors which yielded a goal from emerging midfielder Phil Jones – but ultimately, it was probably merited. Basel’s wonderful Swiss international winger Xherdan Shaqiri sparkled throughout, setting up both home goals for compatriots Marco Streller and Alexander ‘Alex’ Frei, and FCB showed immense courage in the second half, pressing with great energy and curtailing the supply line to United’s forwards with infectious alacrity.
Predictably, acres of media coverage has ensued, with Manchester United being derisively termed a ‘UEFA Europa League club’ in reference to their ‘relegation’ to what is, to all intents and purposes, a second-tier continental competition, with poor tactics, recruitment and luck all cited as reasons for non-qualification for the UEFA Champions League’s last sixteen; the club’s Dakar-born France international left-back Patrice Evra has even made public his ’embarrassment’ at being involved in such a ‘lowly’ tournament.
But do Manchester United really have the luxury of ignoring the chance to win a European competition – albeit not the premier one – and the financial boost and kudos this entails? For the following reasons, we at Mediolana think otherwise:
1. Debt. When Cristiano Ronaldo joined Real Madrid from Manchester United on 1st July 2009 for £80m, its main significance for the selling club was as a mechanism to keep its creditors at bay. The ‘Pride of the North’ is now a hugely indebted entity – by £433m as of November 2011 – in the hands of owners who themselves are massively exposed as their business interests in the United States continue to haemorrhage money. Any reasonable source of cold, hard cash should be welcomed with open arms: the winner of the 2011-2012 UEFA Europa League will receive €3m in prize money alone.
2. Adjustment. As things stand, the financial prognosis for Manchester United is not good: this is a club down to their last £65m in cash and with very little wiggle room should the global economy go further south. Because this precarious position makes the purchase of marquee players less and less likely – witness the non-replacement of the admittedly virtually inimitable Cristiano Ronaldo – ceteris paribus, United will be increasingly unable to compete with the very biggest and best in European football. Clubs from the chronically indebted leagues of England and Spain should be warned that participation in the UEFA Europa League will be an increasingly desirable proposition.
Mediolana 