Liverpool qualified for Champions League 2017/18 after finishing 4th in the league by beating Boro on the final day of the campaign. Though the qualification round is still there to be played, the odds are stocked well for us to qualify for the group stage of the competition.
It is indeed a step forward as a team’s presence in the Champions League has become a compulsion these days. The players consider Champions League participation as a huge criterion and it becomes difficult for clubs to lure big talents to their ranks without being in the Champions League.
Luckily for us though, we are a big club irrespective of whether we play in the Champions League or not. However, now that we are in the Champions League though, it can be considered as a big added bonus.
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher didn’t differ from the above perspective about Champions League football and insisted that it is a minimum requirement these days. Carragher became a veteran of Europe’s elite during his 17-year spell in the first team at Anfield, but since his retirement, Liverpool have only qualified once, in 2014/15.
Speaking to LFCTV, Carragher said,
“It’s huge. We know it brings extra revenue, you hope it entices players who want to play Champions League football. The qualifying round is always in the back of your mind, but you’d expect us to get through that no matter who we come up against.”
“We haven’t been in there too often of late, and it’s just something we have to be in now year in, year out. It has to be the minimum requirement, as it was when we were playing. It’s a lot tougher now to get in, a lot more competition to when I was playing, but it’s huge to get in and it can’t be a one-off like last time.”
Jamie is absolutely spot on as his words reflect the current trend in football. Our participation in Champions League is going to be exciting for sure and this would be the right time for us to step up a notch and progress far in the tournament.
