Vil, you're right in essence that we'll lose out financially, but looking at it another way its not so bad. If you look at the fact that most our rivals have been spending money, be it in terms of wages, signing on fees or just transfers, these clubs are obviously gearing up for a good shot at the CL. If they didn't qualify, you might say they'd be in a bit of trouble financially, but since we havent even spent money this summer I can't see it putting us in any worse a position than anyone else on the financial side of things.
I also think the term 'forced to sell' belongs to a 4th division side struggling to stay afloat, not a giant of world football which we still are. We wouldn't be forced into selling anyone, though hopefully we'd start to remove some of the players earning ridiculous wages yet not really deserving them, and replace them with younger players that can play tidy football and won't eat up most of our income with silly levels of pay.
As for the last point well thats up to you, personally I am dreading seeing us play someone like Chelsea or Arsenal in the Cl and being torn apart, and having it smeared all over the tabloids and the tv here in the UK. I'd rather we just played against teams that we can compete with, sadly I fear that is the UEFA cup for us this season, barring some last minute deals.
I reckon overall that failure to qualify for the Cl might be a blessing in disguise, just think of the fan protests etc, Moggi would have to do something