Liverpool appear to be winning their battle to play in next season’s Champions League, albeit starting off in the qualifying rounds. The idea of fast-tracking them into the group stages was described this week as ”remote” but Uefa is looking at other ways of bending the rules and an announcement may be made soon.
A decision was not originally expected for another week or so, but Uefa’s president Lennart Johansson has indicated he wants to bring forward the talks. He planned to canvass Uefa’s executive committee members to ask what they thought of Liverpool joining Manchester United and Everton in the qualifiers.
”The idea of putting Liverpool into the group stages is one of the more remote options,” said Uefa’s spokesperson William Gaillard. ”But, there are different proposals.”
Gaillard said there was ”sympathy” for Liverpool’s cause after winning the Champions League, but failing to qualify because they finished outside the Premiership’s top four.
Finding a place for Liverpool might have ramifications elsewhere. One possibility is that another club might have to drop out of the qualifiers, but this could lead to a legal dispute.
Everton are concerned about the possibility of missing out financially if Liverpool get back in the competition. Each country has a percentage of the television revenue, and since the money is divided among its clubs, a fifth club from England could mean that each club would get a fifth, not a quarter, of the proceeds.
Gerard Houllier, the former Liverpool manager now in charge of Lyon, has opened negotiations with his old club for the transfer of the Czech Republic striker Milan Baros. — Â