Mark OgdenMar 9, 2026, 08:47 AM ET
The UEFA Champions League is back this week, but for the biggest clubs, it is becoming increasingly important that it never goes away. Which is why Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea are so desperate to qualify for next season's competition.
Commercially, they are three of the sport's most powerful clubs, but a year outside the Champions League can lead to severe financial turbulence due to the costs of keeping pace with the rest of the elite.
Between them, Liverpool, United and Chelsea have won 11 Champions Leagues/European Cups. Add in Aston Villa's 1982 European Cup triumph and the four clubs chasing three Champions League spots via the Premier League -- assuming Arsenal and Manchester City finish in the top two -- have won as many titles as Italy's Serie A in 70 years of European Cup football.
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But while history and prestige are significant factors in clubs wanting to compete alongside Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain, nothing is more important than the money that Champions League participation generates.
For the likes of Madrid, Barça, Bayern and PSG, playing in the Champions League has become an annual privilege. Their domestic power is now so great that it's unthinkable for any of those clubs to miss out on qualification.
PSG's last season outside the Champions League was 2011-12, with Bayern (2007-08), Barcelona (2003-04) and Madrid (1996-97) almost forgetting what a season without Champions League football looks like. But there are simply not enough qualification spots for the Premier League's so-called Big Six (which continues to include Tottenham Hotspur, who are fighting relegation this season), plus Villa and Newcastle United, to be able to spend with the confidence that a Champions League payday will fund their operation.
PSG banked £125.06 million from the UEFA prize fund for winning last season's Champions League, with runners-up Inter Milan earning £118.3 million. Of the eight quarterfinalists last season, Villa's £72.5 million overall Champions League earnings were the smallest, but still a huge financial windfall for the club.
United, who failed to qualify for any European competition this season, are the best example of how much it can hurt a team to miss out. Aside from the UEFA prize pot, they are also missing out on additional matchday revenue at Old Trafford, which amounts to approximately £5 million for every home game. Had they enjoyed Villa's run to the quarterfinals last term, United would have had six Champions League home games, which equates to another £30 million they could have earned.
United also have financial penalties within sponsorship deals triggered by failing to play in the Champions League, including a £10 million deduction in their £90 million-a-year shirt deal with Adidas. And although United's playing and coaching staff suffer a 25% salary reduction whenever they fail to play in the Champions League -- their annual wage bill was £313 million in their most recent accounts -- that cost savings (£78.25 million) does not cover the revenue lost by not playing in the Champions League. United owe £422 million in outstanding transfer payments and £238 million of that figure is due to be repaid by the end of next season, which means a return to the Champions League for the first time since 2023-24 is crucial.
Chelsea are another club with a huge reliance on Champions League earnings. According to data released by UEFA last month, Chelsea made a loss of £355 million in 2024-25 -- a figure more than twice as big as the next-highest loss, recorded by Lyon.
The £84 million banked from winning the FIFA Club World Cup last summer was a much-needed financial boost for Chelsea after playing in the UEFA Conference League last season, which generated just £19.06 million despite Enzo Maresca's team winning the competition by defeating Real Betis in the final.
Even Liverpool, last season's Premier League champions, face a financial headache if they miss out on Champions League qualification this season. Despite their league title, which earned Liverpool £174.9 million in prize money, and £46 million from reaching the Champions League round of 16, the club reported a pre-tax profit of just £15.2 million in their most recent financial accounts.
Liverpool also reported an annual wage bill of £428 million -- the biggest in the Premier League -- and that figure does not include the new contracts awarded to Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk last summer, nor does it factor in the salaries paid to new signings including Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike following last year's £450 million transfer outlay.
Within the accounts, Liverpool's chief financial officer Jenny Beacham made clear how important it is for the team to play at the "highest level" to cover the club's rising costs.
"The club does face significant cost challenges, including rises in administrative, staffing and operational costs, alongside the need for us to compete at the highest level of the game, across our men's and women's teams," Beacham said. "Since this reporting period we have invested significantly to continue to enhance our playing squads, investing in the club's present and in its future too."
Liverpool have recent experience of the downsides of missing out on the Champions League, with Jürgen Klopp's final season as manager in 2023-24 played out in the Europa League -- something that impacted the plans of his successor, Arne Slot.
"It's very important for us as a team to be in the Champions League and it has shown how important it is for this club financially," Slot said. "The season when I arrived, there was a reason why we only signed Federico Chiesa and that was partly because of the season before there was Europa League football.
"We know we are in a transition and a transition works better if there's money available."
So while the Champions League is the only place for the biggest clubs to be, it is no longer simply a prestigious bonus on top of domestic success. It has become an essential revenue driver, but in the Premier League, top clubs will inevitably miss out and the price of failure is becoming bigger and bigger.
