The Champions League draw will take place at 18:00 CEST today, with five La Liga clubs eagerly awaiting their eight opponents for the league phase of the competition. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Athletic Club and Villarreal will have happy accountants as a result.

Due to the coefficient rankings, La Liga earned an extra Champions League spot last season to the benefit of Villarreal. They will be in the mix for the largest ever pot of prize money in football, as per Marca. UEFA have been under pressure to respond to increased demands for more money to be shared amongst the European elite in recent years following the attempted move to a Superleague, and the advent of the Club World Cup.

The total pot of prize money increased by 21% last year with the new format, some €400m. This year will see a much more modest rise, with the total pot increasing by €43m to €2.47b in total. There is also good news for Real Betis and Celta Vigo in the Europa League, where the €465m pot has risen to €565m, while Rayo Vallecano will be hoping to earn their share of the €285m n the Conference League, up from €235m.

🚨 OFFICIAL: Champions League 2025/26 pots.

Atlético Madrid will face two rivals from each pot.

The draw is set to take place tomorrow.

— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) August 27, 2025

Champions League prize money split

Last season Paris Saint-Germain earned the most money from the total, bringing in €118.7m in total. Performance-related bonuses adhere to a strict structure, with €2.1m awarded for a win, and €700k for a draw. Those who qualify for the knockout rounds receive a bonus ranging from €1.7m (16th if they win their play-off) to €12m (1st). Reaching the round of 16 adds another €11m to your bonuses, which increases to €12.5m, €15m, €18.5m and right up to €25m for the winners as a team progresses through each round.

The performance bonuses represent 37.5% of the total (€926.2m), while participation on its own accounts for 27.5% (679.2m, which evens out as €18.6m per team). The third area of financial rewards is the ‘base value’, which accounts for €864.5m (35%), This has replaced the ‘market share’ function, and is based on a slightly more complicated system.

It appears to be based on a combination of the UEFA coefficient, an independent coefficient based on average position over the last two tournaments, and ranked from 1 through 36 amongst all of the teams, and the contribution of their national broadcasters to the pot.

Comparison with Club World Cup

FIFA were content to boast of the €1b prize money pot, divided by the 32 teams involved – which Marca point out ended up being €929m. However the Champions League remains king, dividing the €2.47b between the 36 teams. However the difference for the biggest sides is less augmented, with Atletico Madrid (€19.7m) and Real Madrid (€32.8m) received higher fixed fees for their participation.

Barcelona has formally requested La Liga to be able to play the Barça – Valencia game on September 14th at the Johan Cruyff Stadium. At this moment, La Liga is inspecting the stadium. The VAR system needs to be installed. @QueThiJugues

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) August 27, 2025

The champion of the Club World Cup, in this case Chelsea, was set for a prize of €110.9m, while the Champions Leage winner will receive between €142.7m and €154.7m depending on their base value. That will require the winners to play an extra 10 matches to receive that bump too.

UEFA intend to maintain this method of dividing the prize for this season and next season, when their current TV rights deal.