And nobody underestimates the PR factor. But in devising a PR strategy I'd rather not pay much attention to tabloids like Goal.com.
I completely disagree. Sites like Goal are insanely popular and millions get their football information from that site. You might not think its a good source for analysis (I agree its terrible) but swaths of people do. I don't understand how you deny that they influence people's perception.
Not every football fan is as serious about it as we are. There are many fans that are much more casual, they watch CL games and occasionally check the news and player ratings and things like that and goal to them does the job. There are countless band wagoners who don't really understand football but buy merchandise and things like that. I check goal for updates for instance. Even tabloids like the Sun can start rumors, boost a player's profile, and affect their readers.
Ideally, a club wants a media machine backing it be it from sites that serve football fanatics to sites that serve very casual football fans. Proper research needs to be done ofcourse to know which publications have the widest range and the good credibility with their readers, but if the club's PR department can get that info (which shouldn't be difficult) then they should put a lot of effort into making friends on the inside of these publications.
Sometimes you have to pay someone for it. Other times you give them exclusive interviews with your players, you leak information to them first before anyone else, you give them free tickets to your matches, you give them front seats in the press conference rooms at your stadiums and tell your coach to take their questions before anyone else. You favor them when giving post-match interviews. Alternatively you can cut off and shut out publications that are too rough on you all the time.
Another huge source of influence is the post-match analysis on TV on Beinsports and the other big CL covering channels. The same kind of politics can be used with them