European Leagues

How much money Dortmund or Real Madrid will get for winning Champions League

Champions League prize money is crucial for European clubs, boosting finances significantly based on performance.

The pay-out is split among winners, runners-up, semi-finalists, and more, with a performance-based reward system in place.

The pot includes money from performance results, coefficient pay-out, and broadcast market, significantly impacting all 32 teams involved.

With each passing year, the beautiful game has become all-too revolved around a pay-to-play structure – and continental football is the easiest way for clubs around the continent to boost their respective kitties. Winning – or even just featuring in – the Champions League has its obvious benefits.

It’s a sure-fire way of getting your side on the map for the lesser-known clubs, but the financial gain is somewhat unprecedented, particularly in comparison to those competing in the Europa League or the Europa Conference League. As a result, Europe’s top table is treated as the be all and end all of their respective seasons. Even for those who don’t reach the latter stages of the competition, strong performances can bring in additional income.

For this campaign, UEFA and the competition organisers revealed that the overall purse for Europe’s top table contenders would remain the same as 2022/23 – at €2.03 billion (£1.74bn/$2.19bn). Using figures courtesy of The Sporting News, here’s a comprehensive breakdown of how the Champions League prize money is given out: from how much the winner receives for reigning victorious to the finer details of how the rest of the teams are financially boosted.

Inside the Champions League Prize Money

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, after conquering Europe for the first time in their history last season, pocketed an eye-watering €80m (£68.4m/$86.4m). For either Real Madrid or Borussia Dortmund – the two sides that have reached this season’s rendition of the Champions League final – the maximum financial pay-out they could secure after the final is concluded is €85.14m.

In order to receive a healthy bounty, however, that would require either the Spanish or German side to have a perfect European campaign from start to finish. Looking beyond the eventual winner, there are several different ways in which the overall pot of money is handed out to completing clubs.

The Champions League sees the best players in the world compete — and some are very well paid.
The heaviest portion of money, which equates to 55% of the total prize pot, is distributed among the clubs dependent on their results in the competition. The other 45% is administered and split across the complete pool of 32 participants in two separate ways – 30% of it comes from the coefficient pay-out, and the other 15% from the broadcast market.

Performance-Based Prize Money
Winner earns an extra £17.2m (€20m)
The Champions League trophy on display
Performance-Based Money Distribution

Stage

Prize Money

Winner

£17.2m (€20m/$21.5m)

Runners-up

£12.9m (€15.5m/$16.12m)

Semi-finalists

£10.8m (€12.5m/$13.2m)

Quarter-finalists

£9.1m (€10.6m/$11.4m)

Round of 16

£8.3m (€9.6m/$10.3m)

Group stage wins

£2.4m(€2.8m/$3m)

Group stage draws

£800k (€930k/$1m)

Reaching group stage

£13.5m (€15.6m/$16.8m)

Simply, on the basis of how far a team progresses in the tournament, a grand total of 55% of the prize pot is handed out. Those who reach the group stage are guaranteed a pay out of £13.5m (€15.6m/$16.8m), while the results of the group stage games also yield financial gain.

Any draws result in an additional £800k (€930k/$1m), whereas group stage wins see teams pocket a healthy £2.4m (€2.8m/$3m) per victory. Those who crash out at the group stage are not in line for extra pay-outs, however, and the 16 teams who do manage to progress are promised additional money.

A total of £8.3m (€9.6m/$10.3m) is given out to the eight teams that secure Round of 16 status, while the pay-out increases to £9.1m (€10.6m/$11.4m) should they make further progress into the quarter-final stage. All four semi-finalists of this season’s Champions League – Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Borussia Dortmund – are awarded with an extra £10.8m (€12.5m/$13.2m), regardless of whether they win or lose.

Either Real Madrid or Borussia Dortmund will secure an additional £17.2m (€20m/$21.5m) when one of the aforementioned sides secures Champions League winners’ status at Wembley on June 1, 2024. The runner-up, instead, will earn £12.9m (€15.5m/$16.12m).

Coefficient Pay-Out
An additional £512m (€600m), which is equivalent to 30% of the total purse available, will be paid out across all 32 teams that participated in the 2023/24 Champions League – from the likes of Copenhagen to RC Lens to Young Boys all the way up to the final two finalists. The coefficient pay-out is based on UEFA’s algorithm that has tracked each side’s progress in UEFA tournaments, including the Champions League, Europa League and the Europa Conference League, over a 10-year period.

All 32 teams are ranked from No.1 and No.32 and there are bonus points on offer for those who have actually won trophies. All competing Champions League clubs are then paid accordingly to their position in UEFA’s club coefficient rankings, which can be viewed in full on the official UEFA website here.

The lowest-ranked team earns one share £1m (€1.137m), while the top-ranked team earns 32 shares £31m (€36.38m). The highest-ranked team left this season are Manchester City and the lowest-ranked was Newcastle United after their two-decade-long hiatus from European football.

Broadcast Market Pay-Out
Each season, a considerable chunk of prize money is up for grabs from Champions League broadcasting rights from all corners of the globe. This season, for all 32 teams, there is an additional £256m (€300m) on offer as part of the concluding broadcast revenue once all the broadcast-based deals are finalised.

For each country that is represented in Europe’s top tier club competition, from England to Switzerland, their federation is handed out a share of the final prize money, which is entirely dependent on the proportional value of each TV market.

This ensures that those leagues that are high in popularity – the Premier League, for example – are financially aided proportionally compared to other divisions – and federations – that rake in lower numbers of viewership. The total money is then split among the federations to their clubs using the following formula:

50% of the allocation to a national federation will be divided among the participating Champions League clubs from that nation based on fixed percentages determined by UEFA.

The other 50% is paid out in proportion to the number of matches played by each club in 2023/24.
The Champions League trophy on display.

As alluded to, last season’s winners Manchester City were awarded an additional £68.4m (€80m/$86.4m) for their Champions League exploits. Dortmund nor Madrid will rake in the absolute most available this term, given neither have boasted flawless records thus far. The former lost once and drew two games in their group stage – and they even lost 2-1 to Atletico Madrid at the quarter-final stage.

The Spanish side, however, have yielded the most amount of money thus far, having not lost a game. Having escaped the group stages with six wins, plus zero draws and losses, to their name, they have suffered a total of four draws from their six knockout outings. To learn how the Champions League prize money will be distributed for the 2024/25 season, please read below.

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Arsenal Fans Under Tension As Real Madrid Line-Up Leaked Ahead of UCL Quarter-Final

Real Madrid’s starting line-up for their Champions League quarter-final first leg against Arsenal has been revealed hours before kick-off on Tuesday night.

Mikel Arteta‘s side host the Champions League holders at the Emirates Stadium and will be looking to secure a positive result ahead of the return leg in Spain next Wednesday.

Madrid suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat at home to Valencia in La Liga on Saturday and Carlo Ancelotti is said to be making five changes from that side.

According to COPE, the most surprising of Ancelotti’s decisions is to play David Alaba at left-back against Arsenal.

Alaba has started just four games this season after he returned from a cruciate ligament injury in January. The Austria international then missed four games in February due to a thigh problem and has only played as a central defender so far this term.

‘It seems like a dangerous experiment in the Champions League quarterfinals,’ said COPE journalist Roberto Morales.

‘Physically, he’s not the player he used to be, and having Fran Garcia available, who isn’t doing badly, makes the decision difficult to understand.’

Elsewhere, Thibaut Courtois will return in goal after missing Madrid’s last three matches due to injury.

Antonio Rudiger will keep his place in central defence, while Raul Asencio will return to partner the former Chelsea centre-back with Aurulien Tchouameni suspended for the match.

Lucas Vazquez will keep his place on the right side of Madrid’s defence.

COPE report that Ancelotti will deploy a three-man midfield against Arsenal, with Luka Modric dropping to the bench after the defeat to Valencia at the weekend.

Eduardo Camavinga will return to Madrid’s startling-up alongside Federico Valverde and Jude Bellingham.

In attack, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr will start, while Rodrygo will return to the side ahead of Brahim Diaz.

Premier League

BIG SHOCK! AI Predicts Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City Final Premier League Positions

The race for Champions League football remains wide open with Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Brighton, Fulham, Aston Villa and even ninth placed Bournemouth still in the mix.

The technology then predicted a tighter battle for the top four.

“Manchester City, the defending champions, have had an uncharacteristically poor season,” it said. “However, with players like Erling Haaland and a history of late surges, they could climb back to third or fourth, likely ending with around 75-80 points.

“Chelsea, under Enzo Maresca, have shown a resurgence and could sneak into the top four, possibly third, with their attacking flair and a solid finish to the season so far.”

Grok also stated that Brighton are in with a chance for European football but face some serious competition in the remaining matches.

“Nottingham Forest have been a surprise package,” Grok said. “Their 7-0 thrashing of Brighton in February highlights their potential, but maintaining that form might see them settle in fifth or sixth rather than cracking the top four.

“Newcastle United, Aston Villa, and Brighton are also in the mix for European spots, with Newcastle’s recent upturn and Villa’s Champions League distractions possibly influencing their final positions.”

Brighton and Hove Albion are still in the mix for Champions League football as the Premier League reaches the final stages.

The Seagulls, who along with the rest of the top flight have paused for the international break, are currently seventh in the table and just one point off qualification for Europe’s elite club competition.

There are nine Premier League fixtures remaining for Fabian Hurzeler’s team and they are also through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup where they face Nottingham Forest on March 29 at the Amex Stadium.

Albion’s next league clash is at home to Aston Villa on April 2, with their remaining matches Crystal Place (a), Leicester City (h), Brentford (a), West Ham (h), Brighton (h), Wolves (a), Liverpool (h) and Tottenham (a).

Hurzeler’s men are however on a good run of form. They have won five and drawn once of their last six and a strong finish could well see them in Europe once again.

The fixtures against Aston Villa, old rivals Palace and Graham Potter’s West Ham could be key to their chances.

It’s a tight race to predict, so Sussex World asked Grok AI, a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by xAI, for a Premier League prediction.

Unsurprisingly Grok praised Liverpool and Arne Slot for an “outstanding season” so far and tipped “valiant” Arsenal to finish second.

Here’s Grok’s verdict
1 Liverpool – 94 points 2 Arsenal – 85 points 3 Chelsea – 78 points 4 Manchester City – 76 points 5 Nottingham Forest – 70 points 6 Newcastle United – 68 points.

7 Aston Villa – 65 points, 8 Brighton & Hove Albion – 62 points, 9 Tottenham Hotspur – 60 points, 10 Manchester United – 58 points, 11 Fulham – 54 points,12 Bournemouth – 52 points.

13 Crystal Palace – 50 points, 14 West Ham United – 48 points, 15 Everton – 45 points, 16 Wolverhampton Wanderers – 42 points, 17 Brentford – 40 points, 18 Leicester City – 34 points (Relegated) 19 Southampton – 30 points (Relegated), 20 Ipswich Town – 25 points (Relegated).

Source: sussexexpress

European Leagues

Lamine Yamal Slams At Rafael van der Vaart After Victory

Lamine Yamal has quipped back at Rafael van der Vaart’s “pants down” jibe after helping Spain beat Netherlands in Sunday’s UEFA Nations League quarterfinal.

Yamal scored Spain’s third goal in a pulsating 3-3 draw at Valencia’s Mestalla stadium, with La Roja going on to win on penalties and set up a semifinal against France in June.

The 17-year-old missed his penalty in the shootout, but he still took to social media after the game to respond to former Dutch international Van der Vaart, who had criticised him for his attitude and for wearing his shorts low before the game.

“Shorts down, a goal, a missed penalty and INTO THE SEMIFINAL, COME ON SPAIN!” the Barcelona winger wrote on Instagram.

Yamal’s post included a series of photos, one featuring Van der Vaart’s face alongside an image of him walking off the pitch after the win with his shorts pulled lower than normal.

“I see things that are starting to bother me a little,” Van der Vaart said about Yamal after the first leg, a 2-2 in Rotterdam last Thursday.

“Pants a little lower, not making much of an effort, slightly superficial gestures.

“That’s when I think: if you’re that young, you should be happy with every minute you play for Spain. No matter how good you are, at that age, you have to prove it every minute and in every game.”

Despite his age, Yamal has never shied away from responding to criticism from senior or retired players.

He told Adrien Rabiot to “speak now” and “checkmate” after knocking France out of the European Championship last summer following comments made by the midfielder pre-match.

Yamal experienced some nervous moment in the shootout against Netherlands after seeing his spot kick saved by Bart Verbruggen.

However, Unai Simón kept out Donyell Malen’s penalty and Pedri then scored the winning kick to send Spain into the semifinals.

“I said to him ‘What a s–t penalty,” Barça midfielder Pedri joked of his message to Yamal after his miss.

“But no, you learn from these situations. He is not affected by pressure and you have to take a penalty to miss one.

“His calmness has always surprised us. It’s as if pressure doesn’t exist for him when you see the ease with which he dribbles and how he plays. He’s someone we have to take care of and, above all, enjoy.”

Pedri and Yamal are part of a group of Barça players who now face a quick turnaround as they race back to their club for Thursday’s rearranged LaLiga fixture against Osasuna.

“We are a little tired, but we’re Barça, if they say we have to play Thursday we will, and we will give everything to win LaLiga,” Pedri added.

The game could be decisive in the title race. Barça are currently tied at the top of the table with Real Madrid, four points clear of Atlético Madrid, but have this game in hand.

However, they are likely to be without Ronald Araújo and Raphinha on Thursday, with both players in action on Tuesday in South America in World Cup qualifying games.

The club’s other international players should all be back in time, with Spain’s Under-21 side allowing Fermín López, Pablo Torre and Gerard Martín to return to their club early and miss Tuesday’s game against Germany.