Liverpool Forward Devastated Missed Out Next Season Champions League Excuse

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah said he is "devastated" the club have missed out on a spot in next season's Champions League and added "there's absolutely no excuse for this".


Salah posted his comments on social media shortly after Liverpool's failure to finish in the top four was confirmed by Manchester United beating Chelsea.


Liverpool will finish fifth and play in next season's Europa League


"We let you [fans] and ourselves down," said Egypt international Salah, 30.


Liverpool won seven of their past eight games in a late push for fourth place but, ultimately, could not make up for their inconsistent form for much of the season before that run.


United only needed a point at home to Chelsea in the penultimate game of their season to confirm their Champions League place and join champions Manchester City, second-placed Arsenal and Newcastle United as England's contingent in Europe's top competition next season.


"We had everything we needed to make it to next year's Champions League and we failed," said Salah, who was part of the Liverpool team that won the tournament in 2018-19 and lost last year's final to Real Madrid.


"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."


Liverpool started the campaign off promisingly by beating Manchester City in the Community Shield but then won only two of their opening eight Premier League games.


They struggled away from home in the top flight before their recent upturn in form, with three of their eight away defeats coming at relegation-battling Nottingham Forest, Wolves and Bournemouth, while they were only beaten by struggling Leeds United at home in the league.


Liverpool were comfortably beaten by Real Madrid in the last 16 of this season's Champions League, while they went out at the fourth-round stage of both the FA Cup and League Cup to Brighton and Manchester City respectively.


Salah, who signed a lucrative new three-year contract with Liverpool last summer, has scored 19 league goals this season, with six coming in 14 games before the 2022 World Cup and 13 in 23 games following the tournament.


'I saw Salah in the canteen and he is smiling'


Manager Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool "did not deliver what everybody wanted" this season but that there are reasons for optimism after a strong end to the campaign.


"This season has not been historically good. But since we had a training camp in Dubai after the World Cup, not everything has been perfect but the points we have collected have been pretty good," he said.


"If we could have done that all season, we'd be in a different place. So, of course there are reasons for optimism.


"The atmosphere our people created in the last home game [against Aston Villa], the way the club said farewell to the players who are leaving, all of these things are the basis for a fantastic future."


Asked about Salah's social media post, Klopp added: "In the world of social media, so many bad things happen but that wasn't one of them.


"It was a normal description of his situation. I just saw him in the canteen and he is smiling; I didn't ask him why, but that is his mood."


Full cost of Liverpool's failure to qualify for Champions League as Man Utd secure place


Jurgen Klopp's team will be missing from the Champions League for the first time in seven years after Manchester United confirmed their return to the competition, Liverpool are set to miss out on at least £50m in prize money and participation fees because of their fifth place Premier League finish.


And while Jurgen Klopp’s squad is expected to see substantial investment this summer with the aim of competing against next season, the budget will be greatly affected by their failure to qualify for next season’s Champions League.


Their fate was confirmed by Manchester United, who beat Chelsea 4-1 on Thursday evening; with the result securing a top-four spot for Erik ten Hag’s side before Sunday’s final round of fixtures.


Liverpool earned an estimated £159.8m for last season’s second-place finish and that will fall by £6.6m for fifth spot with broadcasting earnings also set to take a hit.


But the real difference will come from UEFA payments. Klopp’s side were knocked out of Champions League at the round of 16 by Real Madrid but still banked a total of €67.7m (£58.9m).


All 32 group stage teams make €15.6m (£13.5m) as a base participation fee, with Liverpool’s ten-year coefficient payment this season worth an additional €27.3m (£23.7m). They made €2.8m (£2.4m) for each of their five group stage wins and a €9.6m (£8.3m) top up for making it into the knockout stages.


Those figures are in stark contrast to the sums available in the Europa League. United, for instance, made €15m (£13m) for reaching the quarter-finals of that competition only to be beaten by Sevilla after throwing away an advantage in the first leg.


A Europa League participation fee is only €3.6m (£3.1), with group stage wins earning €360,000 (£313,000) and progressing into the knockout stages worth an initial €500,000 (£435,000).


Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp will lead his team in the Europa League next season


There could also be commercial consequences because many sponsors include performance related add-ons. United lost several million last summer because of clauses in their contracts with kit manufacturer adidas and front of shirt sponsor TeamViewer.


Roberto Firmino, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita are all leaving the club this summer. The quartet’s salary combined has cost the club about £500,000-per-week.


Liverpool’s primary focus will be on strengthening their midfield but hopes of bringing in Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund have been all but extinguished, with the England star instead tipped for Real Madrid.


They have also been linked with Brighton star Alexis MacAllister, who was part of Argentina’s World Cup winning squad, but champions Manchester City are also interested.


Klopp's team close out their campaign with a trip to already relegated Southampton on Sunday afternoon. An impressive finish to the campaign, winning seven and drawing three of their past 10, has not been enough to close the gap following their early-season struggles.


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