Winning the Champions League is not just about the glory; it also comes with a major prize money windfall of more than €100m for the eventual winner.
Last season Bayern Munich earned an estimated €130m for lifting the trophy, while Liverpool pocketed €111m in 2018-19.
But precisely how much a run in European football’s top club competition ends up being worth is not just down to how many matches a team wins.
Read more: Champions League behind the numbers: Richest clubs, most valuable squads and players 2020-21
Historical success in the Champions League, the value of the television rights in a club’s home country and the previous season’s domestic league position all have an impact.
How Champions League prize money is calculated
Clubs who reach the Champions League group stage are guaranteed a minimum payment of €15m each.
That figure is then topped up depending on their group results, with each win worth an additional €2.7m and draws €0.9m.
Teams who reach the last 16 bank a guaranteed extra €9.5m, plus additional payments the longer they stay in the competition.
Quarter-finalists get a further €10.5m on top and semi-finalists another €12m.
Each Champions League finalist gets €15m, although the winners’ bonus is only a relatively meagre €4m.
So, in basic and performance-related terms, clubs who go all the way can expect at least €76m.
Now for the more complicated – and wildly fluctuating – bits: payments based on Uefa coefficient and broadcast market pool.
How Uefa coefficient affects Champions League prize money
A relatively recent addition to the prize money formula, this element is designed to ensure traditional big clubs get a bigger slice of the pie.
The better a team’s results in Europe over the previous 10 years, the better their coefficient – and the larger their share of this chunk of Champions League cash.
The highest-ranked side is due around €35m, while the lowest gets just over €1m, so the difference made by this factor is significant.
Real Madrid are top of the current coefficients, with Chelsea the best-placed English team in fifth. Ferencvaros of Hungary are bottom.
