Both Manchester City and Manchester United will be in the hat for this morning's UEFA Champions League last-16 draw after successfully winning their respective groups.
City, who finished their group campaign with a disappointing 2-1 defeat to RB Leipzig on Tuesday evening, topped Group A, winning four of their six fixtures. United, who played out a 1-1 draw with Young Boys on Wednesday evening, won Group F, pipping Villarreal to top spot.
Both clubs' progression to the last-16 means they will be on the favourable side of the draw on Monday, with supporters of both sides starting to plot possible routes to the final in Saint Petersburg next May.
But whilst winning the Champions League will be the ultimate aim for both clubs and their supporters, City and United will each gain substantial amounts of prize money for progressing as far as possible in the competition.
Each club who entered the competition at the group stage this season is given the chance to win an overall windfall of €85.1million (£73.56m).
That huge sum would be given if a club were to win every match at the group stage and go on to lift the trophy at the end of the season in the most sought-after match in European club football, on top of "coefficient-based" payments and television money.
The amount is much, much higher than what those competing in the UEFA Europa League and the newly-founded UEFA Europa Conference League can win, with the Europa League offering €23.4m (£20.2m) and Europa League Conference League a smaller amount of €15.5m (£13.4m), respectively.
A grand pot of €1.1bn (£945.42m) will be handed out to the 32 sides as the competition continues throughout the campaign.
Furthermore, not only do clubs earn money for their teams' performances during the competition but also from the TV revenue generated and "coefficient-based" payments. UEFA has said that €600.6m (£519.26m) is set aside through a system using the confederation's ranking of the clubs that are competing, based on points picked over the preceding decade.
Champions League serial winners Real Madrid, who have progressed to the last 16 as Group D winners this term, currently sit at the top of the pile after winning the competition four times in the last ten years, with the last of those triumphs coming in 2018.
Bayern Munich have won it twice and lie in second place, with Barcelona, who are already out of the competition this season, in third and fellow Spanish club Atletico Madrid, who have never won the trophy, in fourth.
Reigning Champions League holders Chelsea are in fifth and are the highest-ranked Premier League club in this particular setting.
UEFA also states that a total of €300.3million (£259m) in TV revenue is to be shared out amongst the clubs involved in the Champions League this season and each country is allocated an amount that they can distribute to the relevant broadcast rights holders.
The figure, however, does depend on far each of that nation's teams progress in the competition, plus where they finished in their domestic league in the season prior. As well as that, the amount of money clubs receive is impacted by how many clubs each country has in the Champions League.
It is reported that Paris Saint-Germain, who lost the final 1-0 to Bayern Munich in 2020, received more TV income than the German giants, because they had fewer clubs to share the money with.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic, which has once again forced some games in the Champions League to be played in empty stadiums, has had an impact, with UEFA opting to recoup a portion of its revenue shortfall over the next two seasons until the new Champions League format kicks-in in 2024.
They are set to deduct a portion €83.3m (£71.7m) from the total €2.732bn (£2.3m) allocated between its three competitions this term.
That will be "in proportional amounts per competition and in proportion to each individual club's income."
Below, is a guide for what each club competing in the Champions League can earn depending on their progress:
- Qualifying for group stage - €15.64m (£13.4m)
- Group stage win - €2.8m (£2.4m)
- Group stage draw - €930,000 (£804,000)
- Qualifying for the round-of-16 - €9.6m (£8.2m)
- Qualifying for the quarter-finals - €10.6m (£9.1m)
- Qualifying for the semi-finals - €12.5m (£10.8m)
- Qualifying for the final - €15.5m (£13.4m)
- Winning final - €4.5m (£3.8m)
- Subsequent UEFA Super Cup qualification - €3.5m (£3m)
- Winning the 2022 Super Cup - €1m (£864,000)
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