Liverpool have one foot in the last four of the Champions League.
The Reds, having won 3-1 at the Estádio da Luz last week, are 90 minutes away from a semi-final showdown against Villarreal, with Jurgen Klopp's men gearing themselves up for a European night under the Anfield lights this evening as they take on Portuguese side Benfica in their quarter final second leg.
Trophies, of course, trump prize money in the eyes of supporters, but for the Reds the Champions League has become an increasingly important source of revenue for the club, with their participation in the competition this season alone already bringing in close to £77m when factoring in the club's TV market pool slice from the competition and commercial revenues that are handed out among the clubs.
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In terms of just prize money earned, taking out any other factors, £44m has been earned so far by the Reds to get to the quarter final stage. In comparison, quarter finalists in the Europa League that had, like Liverpool, won all their group stage games would have received £10m.
The Reds making this season's Champions League gave owners Fenway Sports Group the confidence to green light a £49m move for Luis Diaz in January, and with qualification for next year's competition all but sewn up already by virtue of Liverpool's excellent domestic form this season, they will head into the summer with the ability to spend. But, of course, the more money coming in makes the decisions to loosen the purse strings easier for ownership.
Last week's 3-1 win, courtesy of goals from Ibrahima Konate, Sadio Mane and Diaz, means that the Reds are strong favourites to progress to a semi-final showdown with Villarreal after Unai Emery's side stunned Bayern Munich by sealing success over the German side 2-1 on aggregate, with Samuel Chukwueze netting two minutes from time to send the Spanish side through thanks to a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena.
Should Liverpool do enough to earn a two-legged triumph over Benfica tonight then it would be worth another £10.4m to the Reds, potentially taking their total earnings for the competition so far above the £87m mark, with Liverpool the competition's highest earners from prize money so far this campaign after winning all of their group stage games.
Victory tonight is also important for what happens with regards to how much money the club get from next season's Champions League, with improving their UEFA coefficient ranking the key to unlocking even more revenues from European football's most prestigious and lucrative knockout club competition.
European clubs get a slice of the TV market pool shared among the 32 qualifiers on a sliding scale basis. The coefficient is worked out through historical performance from clubs over a 10-year period, with the clubs accruing points for their successes in each Champions League campaign. Liverpool's spell away from elite European competition left them playing catch-up, but they have made some considerable ground in recent seasons, something aided by their performance in this year's competition which ranks them at the very top of the class with 26 points.
Based upon the distribution of Champions League revenues for 2021/22, Liverpool received €22.7m (£19m) from the market pool. That figure was reached by the Reds receiving their chunk of the €600.6m (£502.5m) that is broken down 528 parts valued at €1.137m (£0.95m) and then distributed to clubs based upon their coefficient position among the 32 qualifying clubs. For example, the lowest ranked side in this year's Champions League, Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol, received €1.137m from the market pool while the side with the largest coefficient, Real Madrid, received that sum multiplied by the number of teams, 32, to earn €36.38m (£30.44m) from the market pool.
Liverpool's ten-year coefficient sees them in 13th on the 10-year list, behind Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla and FC Porto. Based on the current state of play, the Reds would move into 10th on next year's list, with all three clubs mentioned likely to qualify for next year's competition based on their current domestic performance.
That would mean that Liverpool would claim €26.15m (£21.9m) from next year's market pool. Even if Liverpool were to win every game they may face in this season's Champions League and lift the trophy they would still be four points short of Manchester United who occupy ninth on the list, although United look destined to miss out on next season's Champions League.
