Advertisement

Liverpool could land huge $170m boost as Arne Slot stands by decision

Liverpool FC coach Arne Slot during Liverpool FC's MD-1 press conference prior to the Champions League game against PSV at Phillips Stadium on Jan. 28, 2025 in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
-Credit:ANP via Getty Images


Liverpool knows it will top the league phase of the Champions League with just a draw against PSV tonight. Regardless of the result, serene qualification to the Round of 16 is already assured, along with a sizable bounty.

Despite having looked comfortable for weeks, Arne Slot has continued to field very strong line-ups. He looks set to finally break that pattern this evening, leaving a raft of first-team stars at home for the trip to the Netherlands.

But by winning seven games out of seven, Liverpool has already captured a prize pot of more than $50m. The final league phase figure remains to be seen, with the Champions League paying out for every win and every league position, but the Reds have undoubtedly banked a handsome sum regardless of whether or not it relinquishes top spot to Barcelona on the final matchday.

READ MORE: Liverpool transfer news LIVE: Jorrel Hato stance, Alexander-Arnold talks, Mohamed Salah exit

READ MORE: Arne Slot could green light $25m Liverpool transfer immediately after PSV game

Beating PSV would be worth $2.2m just for the win, plus a minimum bonus of $10.3m for finishing first (the amount scales up based on the overall number of drawn games throughout the league phase, which all add to the prize pot). But Slot has stood by the decision to finally rotate:

"We are playing many, many games and the ones we left behind could have played but we need to think long-term," the coach conceded. "If you look back at our season and the players who play all the time, we always try to give them a break after three, four or five weeks when it's the League Cup or FA Cup to help them get their freshness back."

Having made light work of the competition up to this point, Slot has earned this bonus rotation window to try and recover key players' freshness amid a continued push on four fronts. And as he went on to explain, the competitive difference between first and second is non-existent in the new Champions League format, with both teams guaranteed to face one of 15th, 16th, 17th or 18th when they re-enter the competition in the last 16.

Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool applauds the fans at the end of the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD7 match between Liverpool FC and LOSC Lille at Anfield on January 21, 2025 in Liverpool, England.
Liverpool has already earned vast sums from the Champions League, and stands to make plenty more. -Credit:Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

It will be full steam ahead again at that point, with even greater riches up for grabs. There is prize money for every knockout round reached, as well as a bonus for actually winning the competition.

Should Liverpool succeed in securing Europe's top prize in Slot's debut season, it will capture another $54 million or so, on top of the money already banked for its league phase efforts and its spot in the last 16. And the Reds are also guaranteed further payouts thanks to the somewhat opaque UEFA "value pillar".

New for this season, it combines a country's contribution to broadcast rights with a club's historic performances to determine payouts on a sliding scale. It's complicated, but the headline is that it's good news for Liverpool.

Two of its last three Champions League finals have now slipped out of the five-year reference period, but Liverpool still ranks fourth for its coefficient score, behind only Manchester City, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich. Meanwhile, England rakes in a huge amount through Champions League broadcast deals, guaranteeing a sizable payout on that front too.

There's also a part of the calculation that uses a 10-year UEFA coefficient. With those two finals added back in, but also a 2016/17 season with no European football at all, Liverpool remains in the healthy position of fourth.

All in, a 15-game run to Champions League glory would net Liverpool in the region of $166m (£134m). There's a long way to go, but Slot seems to be managing things perfectly at the minute.