Advancing in the Champions League is difficult enough if you're not one of Europe's elite clubs such as Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich, so the punishment FC Porto have just been hit with by UEFA has made their continental campaign next season even more arduous.
After breaching UEFA's financial fair play sanctions, the two time European champions have been hit with a £616,000 fine and limited to naming only 22 players in their Champions League squad, rather than the usual 25.
The Portuguese giants have failed to comply with the break-even requirement of FFP regulations, leading to the sanction being imposed upon them.
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The UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) Investigatory Chamber monitor the financial activity of European clubs to ensure they are being fiscally responsible.
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And Porto's punishment could be even more severe if they fail to co-operate in changing their financial fortunes over the next couple of years.
Should the Portuguese giants fail to show a fiscal deficit of £26 million this year, £17.6 million next year and £8.8 million in 2019, their fine will be increased from £616,000 to £1.8 million.
Ruben Neves may be one of the players Porto have to sell in an attempt to balance the books. Image: PA
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Porto's original plan to meet FFP regulations was to sell over £100 million worth of players in the January transfer window, but the departures of Evandro and Silvestre Varela failed to raise anywhere close to that amount.
The likes of Ruben Neves, Oliver Torres, Yacine Brahimi and Hector Herrera have all been linked with moves away from the Dragao stadium, this summer and, given Porto's current situation, it's likely they'll be looking to offload a good portion of their current squad as they look to rebuild on and off the pitch to avoid further punishments from European football's governing body.
(H/T Squawka)