Three of the four experienced rocky moments in the most congested group campaign ever but the Premier League will have a full allocation in February’s Champions League round of 16 - and the clubs are already more than £220m richer for their endeavours.
Manchester City progressed with ease, Liverpool and Chelsea overcame sluggish starts to advance and Tottenham Hotspur went through thanks to an impressive recovery away to Marseille on Tuesday night.
That will boost both England’s coefficient and the leading clubs’ coffers with the promise of much more should they reach the latter stages. The eventual winners can expect to earn an additional £45m before factoring in broadcast revenue.
Every group stage team received a base payment of £13.5m, with every win leading to a £2.4m bonus and a draw worth £800,000. The last 16 clubs then bank £8.3m with the bank balance accumulating the deeper a team goes.
Still, not all teams are equal and because of historic performances Chelsea, the winners two years ago, have earned more than the rest despite recording fewer group wins than City and Liverpool. Tottenham, who have less pedigree over the past 10 years from which performances are considered, have earned less.
Here is the breakdown of what the European campaign has been worth to the individual clubs so far.
Chelsea - £59.6m
The 2020 winners lost their opening game away to Dinamo Zagreb, costing Thomas Tuchel his job as head coach, before drawing at home to Salzburg. But convincing wins over Milan and a victory in Austria saw them advance before last night’s reverse game against Zagreb. Those results plus their £13.5m appearance payment and £8.3m for progressing topped up by £27.4m in ten-year coefficient payments led to just under £60m in total.
Liverpool - £57.3m
Jurgen Klopp’s team had a nightmare start to Group A, losing 4-1 away to Napoli, but they won their remaining five games, including a 7-1 battering of Rangers in Glasgow. That meant £12m on top of their £13.5m base payment with the remaining money coming from their coefficient and the £8.3m for making it out of the group.
Manchester City - £57.4m
The Premier League champions had a more straightforward run out of Group D because they won their opening three games before drawing two with Pep Guardiola then having the freedom of giving the kids a run against Sevilla last night. Coming from behind to win 3-1 against the Spanish club added another £2.4m to their total.
Tottenham Hotspur - £47.2m
It was nervy stuff as Spurs came from behind to win away at Marseille on Tuesday night and not just scrape through from Group D but do so in top spot. Three wins and two draws earned Antonio Conte’s side £8.8m but their coefficient payment was worth only £16.6m. Despite reaching the final in 2019, when they were beaten by Liverpool, the north London club have not performed as well on a consistent basis as their domestic rivals.
