I don't even see how it's such a big game for Man Utd, it certainly can't be for financial reasons. CL revenue is almost a drop in the ocean for them. In sporting terms then the difference between them playing in the EL or CL next year is quite significant I guess, but if they get knocked out early as they have the last few times they were in it then not so much. In terms of attracting players it doesn't really seem to matter, they attract big names anyway.
Yeah I'm not really seeing why it's such a massive game tbh.