Man Utd losing ground on Real Madrid, Barcelona in money league

Manchester United are trailing behind Real Madrid and Barcelona in the money stakes.

The report by analysts Deloitte says although United's revenues continue to grow they have not kept pace with the Spanish giants, who have the advantage of being able to negotiate their individual TV rights deals.

United's failure to qualify from the group stage of the Champions League this season will see the gap widen further next year, say Deloitte.

Real Madrid remain top of the money league with revenues in 2010/11 of 479 million euros (£438m) with Barcelona second on 451m euros (£398m) and Manchester United third on 367m euros (£349m).

The report states: "We are starting to see widening gaps between clubs at the top of the Money League.

"Manchester United's consistent on-pitch success has helped establish it as a continued fixture in the top three of the Money League, yet in recent years a gap has grown between themselves and the Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona, rising again to 83.7m euro in this year's edition.

"United's failure to qualify for the 2011/12 Champions League knockout phase will have a detrimental effect on revenues relative to the top two, which may result in this gap increasing to over 100m euro.

"In addition, there is a 70m euro gap between fourth-placed Bayern Munich and fifth-placed Arsenal.''