Liverpool rounded off their Champions League Group Phase with a routine win over Qarabag at Anfield
Arne Slot, head coach of Liverpool, prior to the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD8 match between Liverpool FC and Qarabag FK at Anfield on January 28, 2026 in Liverpool, England.
Arne Slot has secured Liverpool a big payday due to their form in the Champions League(Image: Ben Roberts - Danehouse/Getty Images)
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Liverpool rounded off their Champions League group phase campaign with a win over Azerbaijan minnows Qarabag as they booked their place in the knockout phase. The emphatic victory meant Liverpool's total prize money from the competition so far has hit close to £45million.
The Reds finished in the top eight behind Arsenal and Bayern Munich, who had qualified going into Wednesday's deciding round, landing themselves a healthy windfall from the elite European competition. The Champions League has proven to be a welcome respite for the Reds, and Arne Slot, and the visit from Qarabag was no different as they overcame the potential banana skin.
However, it wasn't without issue as Jeremie Frimpong added to the mounting defensive injury problems after being forced off inside the opening five minutes with a suspected muscle injury.
It leaves Liverpool incredibly threadbare as they played the majority of the encounter with two midfielders in their back four.
For Slot and his side, most importantly, they avoided the two-legged playoff in order to qualify for the next stage of the competition.
They did thanks to a routine win against the minnows after goals from Alexis Mac Allister, Florian Wirtz, Mohamed Salah, Hugo Ekitike and Federico Chiesa. The Argentine picked up a rare headed goal after he was on hand to steer the ball goalwards, with the goal-line technology awarding Liverpool the opener.
Wirtz doubled the lead shortly after when he marauded forward before drilling low into the bottom corner. Mohamed Salah and Hugo Ekitike were on target in the second half, with Mac Allister doubling his account on the evening before a late Chiesa goal added further gloss.
Mohamed Salah netted as Liverpool breezed into the Champions League Round of 16.
Mohamed Salah netted as Liverpool breezed into the Champions League Round of 16.(Image: PA)
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Slot's men will now not have two matches wedged into a busy February period where they face Manchester City, Sunderland, Brighton in the FA Cup, Nottingham Forest and West Ham United, as a result of missing the first knockout round.
In doing so, they avoided some European juggernauts with Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan and Juventus among the teams forced to settle for the playoff rounds.
Liverpool were joined in the round of 16 by four other Premier League clubs in Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham as well as Bayern, Barcelona and Sporting CP.
The final table means Liverpool could face Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Club Brugge or Galatasaray in the last-16.
Financially, Liverpool shrugging off their turgid Premier League form has been particularly fruitful despite shock defeats to Galatasaray and PSV Eindhoven.
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This season, £2.14billion is up for grabs in Europe's elite club competition, and while Liverpool grabbed the top prize last season for topping the league phase - pocketing £8.4m in the process for that achievement - they have enjoyed a huge cash injection for their form in the Champions League.
Each of the 36 participants receives a base fee of £16.18million, while clubs that also secure a top-eight finish and advance straight through to the last 16 also net a further £9.56million.
League phase wins are also worth £1.82million apiece, and Liverpool earned six wins after beating Atletico Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt, Inter Milan, Marseille and Qarabag. Those wins have been helpful financially as they were worth a total of £10.92m.
Finally, clubs also receive £239,000 per position in the final league standings. Kazakhstan minnows Kairat will take home that figure as they finished in 36th place, after finishing bottom of the table. With Liverpool finishing third, they earned £7.8m, with Arsenal and Bayern Munich scoring big for their positions in the table. All in, that means Liverpool have banked an enormous £44.46m for their exploits so far in Europe.
Progression at that Round of 16 would mean they exceed last season's performance after the Reds were dumped out by Paris Saint-Germain on penalties and land the six-time winners £9.4m.
The prize increases throughout the tournament, with the last eight and semi-finals worth £10.7m and £12.9m, respectively.
Liverpool stars Dominik Szoboszlai and Milos Kerkez will have particular intent on making the final at the end of May as Hungary's national stadium, the Puskas Arena, plays host to the showpiece match.
Silver medallists will land £15.9m, while the victors will receive £21.5m, which Liverpool will be hoping to achieve, capping a poor season with the greatest club honour.