Had the farce of a UEFA Champions League draw had not transpired then Liverpool could well have been playing in the shadow of the Eastern Alps this evening instead of under the lights of the San Siro.
December's last 16 draw had initially thrown the Reds and Red Bull Salzburg together before a second draw saw Jurgen Klopp's side pitted against the Italian giants of Inter Milan for a place in the last eight of European football's most glittering and lucrative knockout competition.
The draw had to be made again after a mistake was made in allowing Manchester United to be drawn against Villarreal, a side who they faced in the group stage, and after the rather embarrassing episode was finally concluded the outcome was that it wasn't Austria where Liverpool would be heading, but Italy.
In being pitted against Inter Milan the Reds find themselves coming up against one of the other 11 clubs who had sought to create the breakaway European Super League earlier this year, and a side who have had to contend with serious financial difficulties, exacerbated by the pandemic.
While Liverpool lost £46m before tax for the 2019/2020 financial period, which took into account the onset of the pandemic, they will likely make heavier losses when the 2021 accounts are made public early next year as a full season played out behind closed doors is shown on the balance sheet.
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But despite that the Reds have been pretty resilient when compared to the rest, still in economic profit based on the past five years - one of only two Premier League clubs - and having seen commercial revenues rise.
For Inter it has been a major issue.
The combined losses during the past two reporting periods stands at £296m. Their deficit posted in October, for the 2020/21 period, stood at £209m, a record loss for a Serie A club.
Those losses, for a club that brings in some £180m less in revenues than Liverpool has been a major issue and required them to seek a loan facility from US asset management firm Oaktree Capital for £234m in May. That was a deal that, unlike the $750m investment that Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group sealed with RedBird Capital Partners that was to be used for infrastructure development and developing new and improved revenue streams, was to provide the Milan club with the funds to manage a potential cash flow crisis.
No fans in stadiums and the reduction of some commercial deals created major obstacles, especially with the desire and expectation of supporters to see Inter remain as one of the world's biggest clubs. Their attempts to join the Super League, like the rest of those involved, were driven by financial necessity and business motives, the £300m-plus welcome bonus that would have been on offer a major carrot.
Major changes have taken place commercially, the club ending their 26-year association with tyre firm Pirelli for the front of shirt sponsorship, a partnership that was iconic in European football, and replacing it with the controversial digital fan token platform Socios, with Inter being one of the clubs Socios have thrown their weight behind to promote their product in football at a time when some clubs, Liverpool included, are less keen to throw themselves headfirst into a market that remains largely unregulated. Inter have also inked a lucrative shirt deal with DigitalBits, a cryptocurrency firm.
In terms of the playing squad there are major differences too.
According to i nsights from KPMG's Football Benchmark, the Liverpool squad value stands at £803m, aided by the recent addition of Luis Diaz from Porto and the rise in value attached to the superb form of Diogo Jota. That is a figure some £362m higher than the £441m that Inter's squad value stands at.
To compare the value between their key men, Mohamed Salah holds a value in the market, according to KPMG, of £96m, with Inter's Lautaro Martinez valued at £72.9m, a difference of £23.1m.
Wages, too, show how far apart the clubs are financially. Liverpool's wage bill, the second highest in the Premier League when based on the audited financial accounts for every club in the division during the 2019/20 campaign, stood at £325.6m.
In contrast, Inter, whose revenues and wages pre-pandemic were the smallest out of all the Super League clubs, have a bill that stood at £168.3m. That is a figure £157.3m less than Liverpool, the Reds paying out almost double what the Italian giants have been.
Success in the Champions League would be a major boost to Inter's efforts to recover, the Chinese-owned club having earned just over £30m for their competitive efforts in the competition thus far, not including the television money and commercial revenue share. Liverpool's financial haul so far stands at £35.5m. The spoil for the victors in the last 16 will be a place in the last eight and a £9.5m cash boost to add to their growing kitty.
For Liverpool success represents a better chance of having funds re-invested into the first team the following season, with the Reds' ability to have a successful business underpinning its desire to have a successful team.
For Inter it is money that is needed to try and stop the bleeding and provide some vital help to allow them to claw their way back from the mess that was left by the pandemic's impact. Financially as well as competitively, there is a lot riding on it.
A version of this article first appeared on the ECHO on December 13, 2021.
