Celtic left reeling by £12.3m blow - Stefan Borson
Martin O'Neill's Celtic have missed out on a considerable payday immediately after losing to LASK in Champions League qualifying.
That is according to former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider that the difference between European competitions makes a "huge difference".
The majority of supporters expected an easy route to the Champions League after beating Austrian side LASK 3-0 in their play-off final.
Callum McGregor even got the Hoops off to the best start in the second leg on Tuesday, 25 August, only to lose 5-1 after extra time at the Raiffeisen Arena.
O'Neill's side will now have to play Europa League football, while their Old Firm rivals Rangers have dropped out of Europe altogether.
Some may suggest that all eyes should be on domestic competitions, but winning the Europa League could still bring a windfall to Celtic Park.
Celtic hit with 'immediate' £12.3m blow
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson explained the financial differences of the competitions, and how much the Hoops lost at the full-time whistle.
"It's an immediate blow in that you lose €14.3m (£12.3m) immediately. That's the difference between the participation fee in Europa versus the participation fee in the Champions League," he said.
"They would have been expecting €18.6m (£15.9m) the minute that the game finished and they now get €4.3m (£3.7m). So, that is a big difference, right?
"I'm not convinced that they have any issues with wages in terms of uplifts for Champions League versus Europa. So I don't even think they're going to mitigate it like that.
"Europa League is going to end up costing them similar amounts in terms of traveling around Europe.
"The only mitigant really that they've got in terms of Europa League is maybe they can get to the very latter stages. Can they can they win it? It's not completely impossible."
Who could replace Martin O'Neill at Celtic Park?
O'Neill will, undoubtedly, be under pressure just weeks into the new season, and the same can be said for Derek McInnes at Ibrox.
Before the decision to keep O'Neill in charge, Ange Postecoglou, Roberto Martinez, Robbie Keane and Craig Bellamy were all linked with the role.
Postecoglou has taken a job as Al Nassr manager, while Bellamy is still Wales head coach, but the other two figures remain without positions.
The Hoops will likely allow time for O'Neill to turn things around, but supporters are already getting restless after missing out on the Champions League.