Just a week ago, consulting firm Deloitte released its now classic annual report on Premier League finances. One of its most striking conclusions was that English clubs were going to stop bringing in around £ 1 billion due to the crisis caused by the pandemic, around 20% of their total expected revenue. A tremendous setback for a league in which romanticism long ago gave way to the commodification of football. The owners, for the most part, are to obtain important economic benefits - or image, as is the case with the City. Otherwise, they will flee from the Premier. The owner of Newcastle, without going any further, has already put the club up for sale. And you will not be the only one to do it.

The return of the Premier League on Wednesday, in short, was a non-negotiable necessity to keep alive a business model based on the centralized sale of television rights. A strategy that started in 1992 and that has made the English the most powerful league in the world based on two principles: no match on free television and a blackout or blackout on Saturday at noon, during which time four games are played that they are not broadcast live in the UK. A way to encourage the presence of the public in stadiums and to make the Premier League product even more exclusive.

After the pandemic, however, English clubs have been forced to give up these two traditions in order to get ahead. The Boris Johnson government required the Premier League to broadcast open matches as a popular distraction for the British in difficult times. And, in exchange, the Premier obtained government authorization to broadcast all its matches live, arguing that the blackout was meaningless if there is no assistance to the stadiums to incentivize.

That is the balance they have sought so that the financial impact of the pandemic is as minimal as possible. More matches for operators for the same price to flush out million-dollar losses that compromise the medium-term viability of many clubs. Hence, the two main fights that remain to be settled, that of entering the Champions League and that of maintaining the category, are going to be in these days that they subtract more capital than ever due to their economic impact.

About the winner, the question is not who will be but when. Liverpool enjoy a monstrous income of 25 points that could lead him to mathematically win his first Premier this Sunday in the Merseyside derby. Without the FA Cup or Champions, the only challenge for the Klopp team is to become the champion with the most points in history, for which he needs to add 19 of the 27 that remain in play.

Behind him a City appears without much to do. He does not apply for the title and his classification for the Champions League is guaranteed ... although he awaits the decision of the TAS on the sanction imposed on him by UEFA. If Guardiola's team were outside Europe in the offices, the fifth in the Premier would also enter the maximum continental competition.

Leicester, Chelsea, Manchester United, Wolves, Sheffield, Tottenham and Arsenal will be those who fight for those European places. Below, Norwich has a very difficult time escaping the well and the other two relegation places will be divided between West Ham, Brighton, Bournemouth, Watford and Aston Villa, who plays this afternoon against Sheffield United the first Premier match after the pandemic, before the highlight of the day: Manchester City-Arsenal.

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