And so we come to the final week of the Champions League’s new league phase. Never before has European football known 36 teams jostling for position in its biggest competition and by tomorrow, it will be time to part with 12 of them once and for all.

Some know their race is run, with nine already unable to qualify for the knockout stages, but plenty head into this eighth and final round of league games with much on the line: there’s prestige, the chance of a trophy and the next level of financial enrichment to be chased.

The Athletic looks at the numbers as the Champions League season turns for home.

How much have clubs made in the new format?

Qualification to Europe’s flagship competition has always equated to significant financial windfalls, but never quite like this.

The revamped format, with the total games played climbing from 125 to 189, has swelled coffers at UEFA and ensured the 36 participating clubs have been handsomely rewarded. The total prize pot is forecast to stand at €2.47billion (£2.08bn, $2.59bn) this season, 22 per cent up on the €2.03bn of last.

UEFA effectively splits that three ways; an equal share, performance-related amounts and a complex and new ‘value pillar’ shaped by market pools and coefficients.

More on that shortly but let us start with the simple bit. An equal share of €18.6m has already gone to each of the 36 clubs involved in the group phase, with the chance to build on that number through matchweeks one to eight. Every win has been worth €2.1m, every draw €700,000.

Alongside that has been the opportunity to earn more through league position. The higher you finish after the eight games are played, the more you bank. Broadly mirroring the Premier League’s merit payment system, every place in the table is worth an initial €275,000, with the eventual league-phase winners getting €9.9m. Celtic, for example, stand to make €5.225m if they hold their position of 18th.

The word ‘initial’ is important. Any of the 144 league games that end in a draw (and there have been 16) will see €700,000 (the amount left over from €2.1m after each team involved in the draw is given their €700,000) added to the ranking bonus system.

The league phase has already been beneficial to plenty. Leaders Liverpool are almost assured of finishing at the summit, bringing in at least €9.9m in a ranking bonus, as well as their seven wins being worth an additional €14.7m. Not to be sneezed at when there is also the €18.6m equal share they have been allotted.

What comes next?

Liverpool’s win over Lille last week continued their perfect run in this season’s Champions League but, more importantly, secured them a direct path into the round of 16 in early March.

That has secured another two payments; €2m as a club finishing between first and eighth and €11m as a club that has qualified for the last 16.

This week’s final round of games will see others attempt to follow Liverpool’s path. Arsenal will also be assured of a top-eight finish if they avoid defeat against Girona, while Aston Villa can also get there with a win at home to Celtic. That would bring them the extra €13m that Liverpool have already earned and spare them the play-off round next month.

Finishing between ninth and 16th is worth €1m, as well as another €1m going to each of the 16 clubs that will battle it out in the eight play-off ties.

Manchester City, the 2023 Champions League winners, have anxieties few could have foreseen. They have made at least €100m a season from the Champions League in every edition since 2019-20 but will see that crutch kicked away if they fail to beat Club Brugge at home. It is win or bust after last week’s capitulation against Paris Saint-Germain, who need another positive result away to Stuttgart in matchweek eight.

What does UEFA’s new ‘value pillar’ bring to clubs?

This has been the subtle alteration to how money is given out this season. The value pillar combines the market pool and coefficients, where clubs would have distribution shaped by the size of their domestic TV deal and historic performances in Europe.

The value pillar is now split two ways, into European and non-European parts.

The European part, much the bigger, combines what a club’s country has contributed in broadcast rights and a five-year coefficient in UEFA competitions.

Real Madrid will hope to improve their league position tonight (Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

The four Premier League clubs are guaranteed to be ranked highly given the value of Champions League rights sold in England. Manchester City, in particular, will benefit from having the best five-year coefficient, a score shaped by performances in UEFA competitions.

The non-European part, estimated to be 25 per cent of the value pillar, is more straightforward and sees clubs ranked by their 10-year UEFA coefficient. This model is why Aston Villa stand to make less than their English counterparts, with their 10-year co-efficient among the worst of the 36 competing clubs. Manchester City and Liverpool, meanwhile, will be among the highest.

Topping the European and non-European parts would bring in roughly €45million and those sums are already set in stone. City will be among the biggest beneficiaries, but falling short of the knockout stage would damage their coefficient and, therefore, future earning potential.

And the chance to keep earning continues?

Absolutely. Right the way through to the final in Munich on May 31.

The eight clubs who reach the quarter-finals will get another €12.5m, before that is whittled down to four, with each semi-finalist rewarded with €15m. Hold your nerve and reach the final and that’s another €18.5m. The curious thing? Winning that beautiful old trophy is only worth another €6.5m, albeit with the added kickback of earning €4m for featuring in next season’s European Super Cup.

So, if we reach for the calculators and tot everything up, any team from a strong domestic league with a co-efficient to match, one that has also performed well in the league phase (yes, Liverpool, I’m talking to you) could earn something in the region of €160m when the last of the prize pots are drained. And all for playing 15 games.

There is money in the mountains of Europe.

GO DEEPER

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(Top photo: Harvey Elliott and Mohamed Salah during Liverpool’s Champions League win over Lille last week; by Carl Recine/Getty Images)