The league phase of the 2024/25 Champions League season is now finished. The current campaign marked the introduction of a new format to Europe’s most prestigious football competition. The Champions League’s conventional group rounds have been replaced by a league table.
This new format means that not only are there more teams in the competition, which has increased from 32 to 36, but they will all play eight games rather than six. Though there are many uncertainties about the new structure, especially since it is still in its early stages, there is a clear benefit for the smaller teams that compete, since it allows them to earn more money on the continent.
With the play-off round due to begin in mid-February, how much money have all Champions League teams made from the competition thus far?
Top earners in the Champions League
Rank
Team
Income
1.
Liverpool
£82.1 million.
2.
Bayern Munich
£77.3 million.
3.
PSG
£76.1 million.
4.
Inter Milan
£75 million.
5.
Borussia Dortmund
£74.2 million.
6.
Arsenal
£74.1 million.
7.
Real Madrid
£74 Million
8.
Barcelona
£73.7 million.
9.
Bayer Leverkusen
£72.1 million.
10.
Atlético Madrid
£70.3 million.
11.
LOSC Lille
£65.1 million.
12.
Manchester City
£63 Million
13.
Benfica
£59.1 million.
14.
Aston Villa
£59 Million
15.
Atalanta
£55.5 million.
16.
Juventus
£55 million.
17
PSV
£54 million.
18.
Feyenoord
£53.6 million.
19.
AC Milan
£50.8 million.
20.
Club Brugge
£50.4 million.
21.
Monaco
£49.5 million.
22.
RB Leipzig
£48.7 million.
23.
Stade Brestois 29
£42.9 million.
24.
Sporting Lisbon
£40.5 million.
25.
Celtic
£38.3 Million
26.
Stuttgart
£35.9 million.
27.
RB Salzburg
£35.3 million.
28.
Shakhtar Donetsk
£34.2 million.
29.
Dinamo Zagreb
£32.9 million.
30.
Bologna
£29.2 million.
31.
Red Star Belgrade
£26.5 million.
32.
BSC Young Boys
£25 million.
33.
Girona
£24.8 million.
34.
Sparta Prague
£23.6 million.
35.
Sturm Graz
£23.2 million.
36.
Slovan Bratislava
£18.1 million.
💸💰📊 UEFA Champions League (unofficial) prize money rankings (as of 20 Feb):
🔹 8 winners in KO Playoff earned extra +€11m
🔹 Bayern 🇩🇪 and PSG 🇫🇷 breach €90m and enter Top 3 earners
🔹 Dortmund 🇩🇪 and Real Madrid 🇪🇸 very close to €90m
🔹 Benfica 🇵🇹 goes over €71m!
🔹 PSV… pic.twitter.com/3BmYBR1N5q— Football Meets Data (@fmeetsdata) February 20, 2025
36th-27th
Including Sparta Prague, Bologna and RB Salzburg
It should come as no surprise that many of the teams considered minnows by the elite are towards the bottom of the incomings list. Slovan Bratislava has generated the least money of any team in the league, at slightly over £18 million. They, along with Strum Graz, Sparta Prague, and Girona, are the only teams to have earned less than £25 million in the Champions League from the league stage.
BSC Young Boys is almost there, but they are still 1.5 million pounds behind Red Star Belgrade. Bologna just misses the £30 million threshold after failing to duplicate their domestic success from last season, while Croatian powerhouse Dinamo Zagreb has earned just under £33 million in the league thus far. Shakhtar Donetsk and RB Salzburg earned almost £1 million and £2 million more than Zagreb, respectively, to round out the bottom ten.
26th-17th
Including Celtic, Brest and AC Milan
RB Leipzig, which won only one of their eight games, was eliminated from the league phase with only three points, but still earned £49 million.
Stuttgart and Celtic are at the bottom of this list, followed by Sporting Lisbon, who were eliminated by Dortmund in the knockout stage. Stade Brestois 29, Micah Richards’ new favourite club, has won over the public and walked away with £43 million.
Above RB Leipzig is AS Monaco, with the former runners-up earning a significant profit from their run. Feyenoord and PSV have each earned £54 million and have the potential to earn considerably more now that they have advanced to the round of 16.
16th-7th
Including Barcelona, Manchester City and Real Madrid
Juventus is ranked 16th on the list, having just broken the £55 million threshold with their current Champions League earnings. Atalanta is ahead of them, trailing just Aston Villa and Benfica. Beyond that, 2023 champions Manchester City are just outside the top ten biggest earners.
Atletico Madrid leads the top ten, with indicators that they could return to the final this season. So far, the Spanish side has made just more than £70 million from its projects, trailing only Bayer Leverkusen, who continue to impress under Xabi Alonso.
Two other European giants just miss out on the top six, with Barcelona and Real Madrid separated by only £300,000 – the difference between the two close rivals.
6th-1st
Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, PSG, Bayern Munich, and Liverpool
Arsenal, who achieved automatic qualifying despite dealing with their fair share of ailments, fell just short of the top five, earning £71.1 million. Borussia Dortmund are barely £100k ahead of Mikel Arteta’s side. Dortmund will be trying to go one better this season after losing to Real Madrid in the 2024 final.
The margin between Dortmund and Inter Milan is about £800,000. The Italian giants, who ended fourth in the league rankings, are also fourth in terms of money won so far, as they attempt to return to the final after their 2023 visit.
Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain are ranked second and third, respectively. In the 2020 Champions League final, the Bavarian powerhouse defeated the French team 1-0. That is the closest PSG has gotten to winning the Champions League, but with the excellent Luis Enrique at the helm, they are optimistic that 2025 will be the year they break their drought.
Liverpool, meanwhile, is at the top of the list, having received £82.1 million. Arne Slot’s Reds just missed out on a perfect record, losing to PSV to end their eight-game winning streak. Nonetheless, no one was able to dethrone them, both in terms of points and finances.
