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"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The value of being in the Champions League and, even better, excelling in Europe’s top club competition, cannot be overstated.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The revamped tournament, with a 36-team combined first phase, which comes to an end on Wednesday night, has a total prize pot of €2.437-billion (R47.5-billion).</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the only team with a 100% record in the competition with seven wins from seven, Liverpool are still on course for the maximum possible earnings of €160-million from this season’s tournament.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To do that they would have to win their final match in the first phase, and then go on to win the 31 May 2025 final in Munich.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It’s a highly unlikely scenario that Liverpool will win their eighth consecutive game, especially as coach Arne Slot has left nine superstars at home for their meeting against Dutch outfit PSV.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Reds cannot finish worse than second on the 36-team log, meaning they are seeded for the knockout stages.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even before the last round, Liverpool have already earned €55.945-million after winning seven games and guaranteeing a top eight place. They can afford a minor setback, if it happens.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2565861\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/12781192.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2547\" height=\"1556\" /> <em>Liverpool FC head coach Arne Slot. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Robin van Lonkhuijsen) </em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Ryan Gravenberch, who have started all seven Champions League wins this season, are rested. Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Luis Díaz join them.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It has taken me a while to understand this new format,” Slot said in his pre-match media briefing. “But I’m now 100% sure it doesn’t matter if you end up first or second because we are guaranteed to play the team that is 15th, 16th, 17th or 18th, and then it’s down to the draw. We can’t drop to third. It has no impact on the league table, but we will be trying to win.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“A wise man once said to me he’s never seen anything good come from losing a game. Thirteen or 14 players have mostly shared the playing time, so it will also be good to get other players into a game rhythm because we will need them.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The squad is a choice for the long term. Normally we work only on the game ahead, but this is an exception. Today I am working on PSV and Bournemouth (Liverpool’s next Premier League fixture on Saturday).”</span>\r\n<h4><b>Show me the money</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the increased prize fund comes an increase in games. Last season’s Champions League had a total of 125 games. This year’s competition has been upped to 189 matches.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More games and more TV rights to sell, means more money. This year’s prize fund of €2.437-billion is 22% higher than last season’s €2.03-billion. On average, each game in this year’s Champion’s League has a value €13.172-million.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The split has been broken down into three components starting with an “equal share”, which is straightforward.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2565857\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/12764195-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1772\" /> <em>Benfica's Antonio Silva (right) fights for possession with Barcelona's Eric Garcia during their Uefa Champions League match at Luz Stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, on 21 January 2025. (Photo: EPA-EFE / TIAGO PETINGA)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2565859\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/12766849-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1725\" /> <em>Willian Pacho (left) of PSG and Erling Haaland of Manchester City in action in Paris, France, on 22 January 2025. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Christophe Petit Tesson)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each of the 36 teams received €18.62-million for qualifying. It’s a stark reminder why Champion’s League qualification is so prized by club owners.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The second component of the final breakdown is performance related. In the first phase, comprising of eight matches per team, the winner of each game earns €2.1-million while each team is paid €700,000 for a draw.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Liverpool’s case, they earned an extra €14.7-million over the first seven rounds of the competition.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The third component is final league position of the initial eight round phase. Every place on the log has a value of €275,000, meaning the team finishing 36</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and last earns €275,000. The team finishing first earns an additional €9.9-million.</span>\r\n<h4><b>Quick glance</b></h4>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Each of the 36 clubs receives €18.62m.</li>\r\n \t<li>Clubs get €2.1m for a win and €700,000 for a draw over eight matches.</li>\r\n \t<li>Each log position increases in value by €275,000.</li>\r\n \t<li>Qualification for the knockout round play-offs: €1m per club.</li>\r\n \t<li>Qualification for the round of 16: €11m per club.</li>\r\n \t<li>Qualification for the quarter-finals: €12.5m per club.</li>\r\n \t<li>Qualification for the semi-finals: €15m per club.</li>\r\n \t<li>Qualification for the final: €18.5m per club.</li>\r\n \t<li>The UCL winners can expect to receive an additional €6.5m.</li>\r\n \t<li>The two clubs that qualify for the 2024 European Super Cup can each expect to receive €4m, with the winners receiving an additional €1m.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But there’s more.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Liverpool and Barcelona among others earned an additional €2-million for finishing the first phase in the top eight, and an additional €11-million for being in the top 16.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It gets even more complicated with Uefa (European football’s governing body) using a “value pillar” to determine further income outside of the relatively straightforward prize fund.</span>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://editorial.uefa.com/resources/028b-1a7880138a24-7a993e2e33d1-1000/20240322_circular_2024_13_en.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Uefa’s website</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: “The new value pillar is a combination of the former market pool (country market value) and coefficient (individual club coefficients) pillars.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The value pillar comprises two parts: European part and non-European part. The amounts allocated to the two parts will be proportional to the actual outcome of the media rights sales for that competition in Uefa markets (European part) and all other markets (non-European part).”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That means the clubs from countries that have contributed the most to Uefa’s broadcast rights, ranked over five years with the Uefa coefficient, will receive more. England and Spain are among the highest.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Individual clubs are then rewarded for their performances based on the similar coefficient.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Liverpool, who have played in two finals and won it once in that period will score highly. As will Manchester City.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It’s estimated that topping this “value pillar” will bring a club an additional €45-million. Which is how Liverpool could earn €160-million.</span>\r\n<h4><b>Final places</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All 36 teams started with a chance of making the playoffs, but going into the eighth and final round of the league phase, nine teams are already out.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With 24 teams guaranteed to advance to the next phase, the final round of matches only sees three more teams set to be eliminated, among them </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Manchester City.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The top eight teams advance straight to the round of 16. The sides who finish between ninth and 24th on the log will then have to play a “knockout playoff”.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">City are currently in 25</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> position on eight league points, two points adrift of 24</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-placed Stuttgart.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">City have to win their final match against Club Bruges at home. Even with their struggles this year, Pep Guardiola’s team should be able to squeeze into the playoffs.</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Since I started my career as a manager, I have played this kind of game so many times,” Guardiola said in his pre-game briefing. “In the Champions League, sooner or later you have to play this type of game — one that you must win. I’ve been in so many of them, but usually it happened to be in the latter stages, not at the stage we are in right now.” </span><b>DM</b>",
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"name": "Willian Pacho (L) of PSG and Erling Haaland (R) of Manchester City in action during the UEFA Champions League league phase soccer match between Paris Saint Germain (PSG) and Manchester City in Paris, France, 22 January 2025. EPA-EFE/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON",
"description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The value of being in the Champions League and, even better, excelling in Europe’s top club competition, cannot be overstated.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The revamped tournament, with a 36-team combined first phase, which comes to an end on Wednesday night, has a total prize pot of €2.437-billion (R47.5-billion).</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the only team with a 100% record in the competition with seven wins from seven, Liverpool are still on course for the maximum possible earnings of €160-million from this season’s tournament.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To do that they would have to win their final match in the first phase, and then go on to win the 31 May 2025 final in Munich.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It’s a highly unlikely scenario that Liverpool will win their eighth consecutive game, especially as coach Arne Slot has left nine superstars at home for their meeting against Dutch outfit PSV.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Reds cannot finish worse than second on the 36-team log, meaning they are seeded for the knockout stages.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even before the last round, Liverpool have already earned €55.945-million after winning seven games and guaranteeing a top eight place. They can afford a minor setback, if it happens.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2565861\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"2547\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2565861\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/12781192.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2547\" height=\"1556\" /> <em>Liverpool FC head coach Arne Slot. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Robin van Lonkhuijsen) </em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Ryan Gravenberch, who have started all seven Champions League wins this season, are rested. Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Luis Díaz join them.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It has taken me a while to understand this new format,” Slot said in his pre-match media briefing. “But I’m now 100% sure it doesn’t matter if you end up first or second because we are guaranteed to play the team that is 15th, 16th, 17th or 18th, and then it’s down to the draw. We can’t drop to third. It has no impact on the league table, but we will be trying to win.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“A wise man once said to me he’s never seen anything good come from losing a game. Thirteen or 14 players have mostly shared the playing time, so it will also be good to get other players into a game rhythm because we will need them.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The squad is a choice for the long term. Normally we work only on the game ahead, but this is an exception. Today I am working on PSV and Bournemouth (Liverpool’s next Premier League fixture on Saturday).”</span>\r\n<h4><b>Show me the money</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the increased prize fund comes an increase in games. Last season’s Champions League had a total of 125 games. This year’s competition has been upped to 189 matches.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More games and more TV rights to sell, means more money. This year’s prize fund of €2.437-billion is 22% higher than last season’s €2.03-billion. On average, each game in this year’s Champion’s League has a value €13.172-million.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The split has been broken down into three components starting with an “equal share”, which is straightforward.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2565857\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"2560\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2565857\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/12764195-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1772\" /> <em>Benfica's Antonio Silva (right) fights for possession with Barcelona's Eric Garcia during their Uefa Champions League match at Luz Stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, on 21 January 2025. (Photo: EPA-EFE / TIAGO PETINGA)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2565859\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"2560\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2565859\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/12766849-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1725\" /> <em>Willian Pacho (left) of PSG and Erling Haaland of Manchester City in action in Paris, France, on 22 January 2025. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Christophe Petit Tesson)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each of the 36 teams received €18.62-million for qualifying. It’s a stark reminder why Champion’s League qualification is so prized by club owners.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The second component of the final breakdown is performance related. In the first phase, comprising of eight matches per team, the winner of each game earns €2.1-million while each team is paid €700,000 for a draw.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Liverpool’s case, they earned an extra €14.7-million over the first seven rounds of the competition.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The third component is final league position of the initial eight round phase. Every place on the log has a value of €275,000, meaning the team finishing 36</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and last earns €275,000. The team finishing first earns an additional €9.9-million.</span>\r\n<h4><b>Quick glance</b></h4>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Each of the 36 clubs receives €18.62m.</li>\r\n \t<li>Clubs get €2.1m for a win and €700,000 for a draw over eight matches.</li>\r\n \t<li>Each log position increases in value by €275,000.</li>\r\n \t<li>Qualification for the knockout round play-offs: €1m per club.</li>\r\n \t<li>Qualification for the round of 16: €11m per club.</li>\r\n \t<li>Qualification for the quarter-finals: €12.5m per club.</li>\r\n \t<li>Qualification for the semi-finals: €15m per club.</li>\r\n \t<li>Qualification for the final: €18.5m per club.</li>\r\n \t<li>The UCL winners can expect to receive an additional €6.5m.</li>\r\n \t<li>The two clubs that qualify for the 2024 European Super Cup can each expect to receive €4m, with the winners receiving an additional €1m.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But there’s more.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Liverpool and Barcelona among others earned an additional €2-million for finishing the first phase in the top eight, and an additional €11-million for being in the top 16.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It gets even more complicated with Uefa (European football’s governing body) using a “value pillar” to determine further income outside of the relatively straightforward prize fund.</span>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://editorial.uefa.com/resources/028b-1a7880138a24-7a993e2e33d1-1000/20240322_circular_2024_13_en.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Uefa’s website</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: “The new value pillar is a combination of the former market pool (country market value) and coefficient (individual club coefficients) pillars.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The value pillar comprises two parts: European part and non-European part. The amounts allocated to the two parts will be proportional to the actual outcome of the media rights sales for that competition in Uefa markets (European part) and all other markets (non-European part).”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That means the clubs from countries that have contributed the most to Uefa’s broadcast rights, ranked over five years with the Uefa coefficient, will receive more. England and Spain are among the highest.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Individual clubs are then rewarded for their performances based on the similar coefficient.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Liverpool, who have played in two finals and won it once in that period will score highly. As will Manchester City.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It’s estimated that topping this “value pillar” will bring a club an additional €45-million. Which is how Liverpool could earn €160-million.</span>\r\n<h4><b>Final places</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All 36 teams started with a chance of making the playoffs, but going into the eighth and final round of the league phase, nine teams are already out.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With 24 teams guaranteed to advance to the next phase, the final round of matches only sees three more teams set to be eliminated, among them </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Manchester City.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The top eight teams advance straight to the round of 16. The sides who finish between ninth and 24th on the log will then have to play a “knockout playoff”.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">City are currently in 25</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> position on eight league points, two points adrift of 24</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-placed Stuttgart.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">City have to win their final match against Club Bruges at home. Even with their struggles this year, Pep Guardiola’s team should be able to squeeze into the playoffs.</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Since I started my career as a manager, I have played this kind of game so many times,” Guardiola said in his pre-game briefing. “In the Champions League, sooner or later you have to play this type of game — one that you must win. I’ve been in so many of them, but usually it happened to be in the latter stages, not at the stage we are in right now.” </span><b>DM</b>",
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Liverpool FC head coach Arne Slot. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Robin van Lonkhuijsen) 
Benfica's Antonio Silva (right) fights for possession with Barcelona's Eric Garcia during their Uefa Champions League match at Luz Stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, on 21 January 2025. (Photo: EPA-EFE / TIAGO PETINGA)
Willian Pacho (left) of PSG and Erling Haaland of Manchester City in action in Paris, France, on 22 January 2025. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Christophe Petit Tesson)