The Premier League title may now be just out of Arsenal's grasp but Mikel Arteta's side can still make it a season to remember in the Champions League. Finishing third in the newly-formed league phase table, the Gunners dispatched PSV 9-3 on aggregate in the round of 16 to secure a place in the quarter-finals of Europe's premier competition.
Champions League holders Real Madrid are next up for Arsenal, with the first leg taking place at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, April 8. The sides will then meet in the Spanish capital eight days later and whoever triumphs over two legs will play either PSG or Aston Villa for a place in this year's showpiece finale in Munich.
Real Madrid will be the hot favourites to advance past Arsenal in the quarter-finals but you certainly cannot rule out Arteta's team from knocking out the 15-times winners. As ever, the Champions League is extremely profitable for all clubs taking part in the competition due to the prize money on offer, which is in addition to the 'value pillar' which is a combination of payments based on a ten-year club coefficient ranking and the broadcast revenue share of all participating countries.
In regards to prize money for performance in the competition, each club taking part in the league phase received £15.587million and teams then had the chance to boost their earnings with £1.75million up for grabs for a league-phase win and £585,000 for a league-phase draw. Further money is then on offer for how far a club progresses in the competition, with £15.48million awarded to each team reaching the final.
Whoever wins the final at the Allianz Arena on Saturday, May 31 then receives a further £5.44million on top of their money for making the final. So, ahead of Arsenal's mouth-watering quarter-final showdown against Real Madrid, football.london has crunched the teams to see how the Gunners have fared in prize money since the start of the 2024/25 Champions League.
Champions League prize money
Winner: £20.92million
Runner-up: £15.48million
Semi-finalists: £12.55million
Quarter-finalists: £10.46million
Round of 16: £9.20million
Reaching knockout round play-off: £836,000
Top-eight finish: £1.67million
League-Phase wins: £1.75million
League-Phase draws: £585,000
League-Phase defeats: £0
Reaching the League Phase: £15.587million
Arsenal's prize money so far
Arsenal secured an £11.085million windfall from the league phase after losing only only of their eight fixtures. Other than the defeat against Inter Milan in the San Siro, the north London club won six times and drew away at Atalanta in their first match.
A total of £10.5million was added to the coffers for their six wins, with an additional £585,000 for their one draw bringing the total to £11.085million.
Atalanta 0-0 Arsenal (£585,000)
Arsenal 2-0 PSG (£1.75million)
Arsenal 1-0 Shakhtar Donetsk (£1.75million)
Inter Milan 1-0 Arsenal (£0)
Sporting CP 1-5 Arsenal (£1.75million)
Arsenal 3-0 Monaco (£1.75million)
Arsenal 3-0 Dinamo Zagreb (£1.75million)
Girona 1-2 Arsenal (£1.75million)
Total = £11.085million
Arsenal then secured a further cash boost of £7.82million in the league phase as each position was worth £230,000. That figure was in addition to the £15.587million just for qualifying for the league phase.
A top-eight finish earned another £1.67million, with £9.20million coming in from reaching the round of 16 and a further £10.46million for progression to the quarter-finals. If you add the above numbers together and add the £11.085million then it brings about a grand total of £55.822million in prize money so far.
Reaching the League Phase: £15.587million
Finishing third in the League Phase: £7.82million
Top eight: £1.67million
Round of 16: £9.20million
Quarter-finalists: £10.46million
Total = £44.737million
Total combined = £55.822million
What can Arsenal still earn?
If Arsenal can knock out Real Madrid to reach the semi-finals then they will receive £12.55million for doing so. A place in May's final nets £15.48million but that figure would increase to £20.92milllion if the Gunners were to win the competition for the very first time.
So, there is the possibility that Arsenal could earn an extra £33.47million in prize money in this season's Champions League. Add that figure to the £55.822million pocketed so far and that would total a potential windfall of £89.292million in prize money.
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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