Money doesn’t buy you happiness, so the old saying goes. But it can certainly buy you success in football. English Premier League clubs have once again dominated the group phase of the Champions League, to the point that five of them finished inside the top eight places in the standings – securing them automatic passage into the knockout stage of the competition.
A sixth, Newcastle United, could join them there if they can win their play-off game against Azerbaijani outsiders Qarabag; that would be a record for an individual nation’s representatives at the business end of the continent’s elite club tournament. It comes just weeks after Premier League clubs dominated football’s rich list once again… that can’t be a coincidence, can it?
Sweet Sixteen
Arsenal were, quite literally, unbeatable in the Champions League’s group phase. They played eight games and won them all, with a goal difference of +19 highlighting the Gunners’ superiority. Mikel Arteta’s men will be joined in the knockout phase by Liverpool, who cast aside their domestic woes to qualify for the last 16 with room to spare, while Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City will also have a chance to advance.
Newcastle United finished 12th in the standings, which means that they will be one of the seeded teams in the play-off round. All of which means that England have now had 80 representatives in the last 16 of the Champions League since its rebrand from the European Cup – 81, perhaps, should the Magpies prove successful.
Barcelona, Real Madrid & Atletico Madrid
Next best is Spain, whose tally has reached 70 courtesy of Barcelona’s automatic qualification – they could yet be joined by Real and Atletico Madrid in the last 16.
No single team has made more Round of 16 appearances than Real Madrid, who have never failed to appear at this stage of the competition – 22 is the maximum possible number at the time of writing (it could possibly be 23, if all goes to plan in the 2025/26 play-offs).
Leverkusen, Dortmund & Bayern Munich
Germany is a distant third on 55 (potentially 57, should Leverkusen and Dortmund progress through the play-offs), so the English Premier League’s dominance of the Champions League last 16 is evident.
They have been joined on 22 by Bayern Munich, who won seven of their eight group stage games – including a 3-1 defeat of Chelsea back in September 2025. The Premier League’s most frequent representative in the last 16 has been Chelsea, who will line up in the knockout phase of the Champions League for the 18th time in 2026 – a 3-2 victory over Napoli continuing that record in 2025/26.
Bayern have also won more Round of 16 ties and individual games than any other club in Champions League history, while Arsenal fans should look away now – the Gunners, and FC Porto, have lost the most last 16 encounters (nine). If variety is the spice of life, then the German Bundesliga and Spanish La Liga lead the way. They’ve been represented by ten different teams each in the Champions League last 16.
English Premier League
The English Premier League is on eight, but that could become nine in 2025/26 if Newcastle are successful in the play-off round. And if you are a neutral football fan that loves watching the beautiful game, the Champions League Round of 16 will be perfect for you…
Eight of the two-legged ties at this stage of the competition have delivered 12 or 13 goals, from Bayern’s 12-1 romp against Sporting Lisbon in 2008/09 to the epic 6-6 rollercoaster between Manchester City and Monaco in 2016/17.
Money Talks
In an ideal, utopian world, football would be a meritocracy in which clubs of all sizes have a shot at glory. In reality, the beautiful game is an exercise in accumulating riches and spending them as efficiently as possible. We’ve referenced the Deloitte Football Money League on these pages before: that’s a look at how much revenue all of the biggest clubs in Europe generate on an annual basis.
The results for 2026 were generally as anticipated, with Real Madrid and Barcelona coming out on top as the recipients of the most revenue during the 2024/25 season. But six English Premier League teams found themselves in the top ten of the Money League as well, which showed an eery synergy between having lots of money and doing well in the Champions League:
| Money League Rank | Club | UCL Stage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid | L16 P/O |
| 2 | Barcelona | Last 16 |
| 3 | Bayern Munich | Last 16 |
| 4 | PSG | L16 P/O |
| 5 | Liverpool | Last 16 |
| 6 | Man City | Last 16 |
| 7 | Arsenal | Last 16 |
| 8 | Man Utd | N/A |
| 9 | Tottenham | Last 16 |
| 10 | Chelsea | Last 16 |
If we skirt around Manchester United, who didn’t qualify for the 2025/26 Champions League – their ability to generate revenue despite a relative lack of success on the pitch in recent years is extraordinary, the picture is clear. Of the other nine most revenue-generating football clubs in Europe, seven sailed straight through to the last 16 of the Champions League, while the other two could still make it there via the play-off system.
It should be noted that the Deloitte Money League measures annual revenue, as opposed to profitability, but the link is obvious: generate lots of revenue and you’ll do well in the Champions League. Or, maybe, if you perform well in the Champions League, you’ll generate lots of revenue.
Either way you look at this chicken-and-egg scenario, evidently success on the big stage goes hand-in-hand with a prosperous outlook financially – even Barcelona, whose profit-and-loss account is a veritable dumpster fire each and every season, are still one of the most commercially appealing football clubs on the planet.
Expanding the Football Money League yet further, we note that 15 of the top 30 most revenue-generating clubs in European football are from the English Premier League. In the past decade, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham have all won the Europa League, while two of the four Europa Conference League champions – Chelsea and West Ham – are from the EPL. Will English clubs continue to dominate the continent’s most prestigious prizes? Given their stark financial advantages, only an extreme pessimist would bet against that.
