Chelsea and Tottenham squandered an opportunity to earn tens of millions in prize money after being eliminated from the UEFA Champions League. The two Premier League teams were eliminated from the tournament this week after losing two consecutive games in the last 16 to Paris Saint-Germain and Atlético Madrid respectively. The French giants dominated Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night, winning 8-2 on aggregate.
The following night, Tottenham defeated Diego Simeone’s side, but lost 7-5 on aggregate despite their best efforts to win 3-2 in the second leg. Had the Blues and Spurs reached the Champions League quarter-finals, they could have collected £10.8m. Had either of the two London clubs reached the semi-finals, they would have earned £13 million.
The competition’s runner-up will receive £16 million, while the champion will claim £21.6 million. Chelsea and Tottenham missed out on the chance to earn a further £45.4m in the knockout stages, but would still be fairly compensated for their performances at league stage.
UEFA introduced a new revenue-sharing system worth around £3bn last season when it expanded each of its three club competitions. Football’s governing body has confirmed that just over £2.1bn (74.4% of the total prize money) will be allocated to clubs taking part in the Champions League and Super Cup.
It also allocated £490.7 million to teams taking part in the Europa League and £247.5 million to teams taking part in the Conference League. So, like other clubs in Europe’s top leagues, Chelsea and Tottenham were given £16.2 million by UEFA just to take part.
The Blues and Lilywhites collected £9.7m and £10.3m respectively, with each win distributing £1.82m and each draw £605,000 in the group stage. UEFA will also award £239,000 for each final position in the ‘group phase’, meaning Chelsea and Tottenham will receive a further £7.4m and £7.9m respectively.
Clubs who finished in the top eight and progressed directly into the last 16 were also rewarded, so both teams earned an extra £9.6m for their efforts. Overall, the Blues and Lilywhites collected £42.9m and £44m respectively.
Tottenham lost to Atlético Madrid in two games. (Image: Getty Images)
Speaking to reporters at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night, Liam Rosenior reflected on Chelsea’s exit from the Champions League. The 41-year-old said: “We need to bounce back.
“We want to be in this competition again next season, so we need to go to Everton with organization, freshness and intensity as a team. And if we put in the performances we know we’re capable of, we’ll get there without the individual mistakes we’re making at the moment.”
The next night, Tudor said: “It’s great, of course the feelings and emotions are mixed. We lost, but as you said, it was the feeling of one of a very good team on the pitch, a very good performance from the players, the energy, as you said before, was very good.”
“From the first moment, the fans knew that the team would try to do everything it could, so from the first moment to the last, they were with us, it was beautiful. Thank you.”
