adminZURICH. — Manchester City were named as last season’s biggest Champions League soccer earners on Tuesday, with the semi-finalists raking in slightly more than champions Real Madrid, according to a UEFA report.Amid increasing concern at the growing financial gap within European football, the report also illustrated the gulf in payments received by the top clubs and the rest.
UEFA said that a total of 1.345 billion Euros ($1.49 billion) was shared between the 32 teams which qualified for the group stage last season plus the 10 eliminated in the final playoff round. This was an increase of 315 million euros on the previous season.
City received a total of 83.85 million euros, Real Madrid 80.07 million euros and Juventus 72.26 million euros, even though the Serie A side were beaten in the round of 16. The report explained that each club received a set payment of 12 million euros for taking part in the group stage, plus bonuses for each win and draw and a further bonus every time they progressed through the knockout rounds. — Reuters.
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