Aston Villa have missed out on a spot in next season’s Champions League after losing 2-0 to Manchester United in controversial circumstances on Sunday.
Aston Villa thought they had scored the opening goal at Old Trafford when Morgan Rogers put the ball in the net midway through the second half.
However, referee Thomas Bramall judged Rogers had kicked the ball out of Altay Bayindir’s hands.
And because he blew his whistle before the ball went into the net, the video assistant referee was unable to intervene.
Amad Diallo went on to open the scoring on 76 minutes, and Christian Eriksen then scored a late penalty to condemn Villa to defeat.
Various media outlets have been reporting on just how much money Villa are set to miss out on by not reaching the Champions League.
Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
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Aston Villa set to lose out on between £30m and £100m by missing out on Champions League
The Athletic previously reported that Villa would have earned at least £35million by reaching the group stage of the Champions League.
In the wake of Villa’s failure to reach the competition, the same outlet spoke of the club missing out on a minimum of £30million, potentially rising upwards of £100million.
Likewise, The Times described the disallowed goal as a £75million ‘error’, while The Telegraph deemed it a ‘£100million blunder’, as relayed by BBC Sport.
The latter outlet also carried quotes from financial expert Kieran Maguire, who claimed that Villa were “probably the club in greatest need” of reaching the Champions League.
This is “because they have made the second highest losses in Premier League history (£678m) – only exceeded by Chelsea (£1.257bn)”, according to Maguire.
He spoke of how Villa under Wes Edens and Nas Sawiris have been one of the bigger spenders in terms of transfer fees, investing more than £868million on players.
Likewise, the owners have backed a series of managers – Steve Bruce, Dean Smith, Steven Gerrard and Unai Emery – “at a significant cost”.
“A lot of the transfers have been on credit terms which, while not unusual in the Premier League, means Villa owe more than £150m in previous purchases,” added Maguire.
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What Aston Villa plan to do next
Villa are issuing a complaint to referees’ body Professional Game Match Officials Limited in the aftermath of their controversial defeat.
In Villa’s post-match news conference, director of football operations Damian Vidagany said the club were unhappy that referee Bramall had been given such an important game.
“We are going to send a complaint,” said Vidagany. “The complaint is not about the decision, it is about the selection of the referee – one of the most inexperienced referees in the Premier League.
“It’s not about the decision, clearly it was a mistake. The complaint is about the referee. The problem is why the international referees were not here today.”