Jurgen Klopp insisted once again that reaching the Last 16 of the Champions League should not be taken for granted.
True enough, Liverpool’s run of six qualifications through to the knockout rounds is ‘their longest ever run of consecutive qualifications’ in Europe’s premier competition, according to a tweet from Opta.
6 – Liverpool have progressed from the group stage in all six of their UEFA Champions League campaigns under Jürgen Klopp, their longest ever run of consecutive qualifications in the competition. Know-how. pic.twitter.com/I4yG47N87S
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 26, 2022
Looking at how UEFA have divided up the prize money across the various stages of the competition (courtesy of Sporting News), the Reds still have a huge incentive for going as far in the competition as they can manage.
How much could Liverpool earn?
Round of 16: £8.33m
Quarter-Finals: £9.2m
Semi-Finals: £10.85m
Finalist (runner-up): £13.5m
Finalist (winner): £17.36m
Possible total (assuming Liverpool WIN the competition): £45.74m (£41.88m as runner-up)
And that’s all without taking into account broadcast and coefficient payments made to the club, not to mention income received from involvement in the group stage.
Though, assuming we do reach Instanbul, a prior thread from economic expert Swiss Ramble on Twitter, examining the financial rewards of reaching the final in 2021/22, would suggest a big prize pot will be waiting for us in Turkey.
My model suggests that #LFC have already earned around £102m (€117.6m) for reaching the Champions League final.
This comprises participation fee €15.6m, prize money €66.3, UEFA coefficient €22.7m and TV pool €17.1m less COVID rebate €4.1m. pic.twitter.com/1F25X4gHoS
— Swiss Ramble (@SwissRamble) May 24, 2022
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Keeping in this mind, you can understand why so many commentators are keen for Liverpool to make the top four spots given the economic damage that would be caused by a catastrophic domestic campaign.
The signs of late, despite a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest, would suggest that we’re generally on the up and on the way to clawing a path back up the table.