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From home advantage in the knock-out rounds to bigger financial returns, these are the reasons Champions League clubs should aim for the highest possible finish in the league phase.

The Champions League is back this week, with Real Madrid, Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund and Aston Villa all in action in their opening matches of the competition on Tuesday evening.

Over the next eight matches for each side in the tournament, clubs will battle to secure a place in the top eight and top 24 of the league phase table, with 12 of the 36 teams certain to be eliminated from the competition.

Teams finishing from first to eighth are assured of direct qualification for the Champions League Round of 16, while those placed from ninth to 24th must go through the play-off round. But beyond that, what other incentives are on offer?

Clubs that end the league phase in the top eight will play two fewer matches than the teams finishing between ninth and 24th. Direct passage to the Round of 16 allows them to avoid the play-off round, giving the best-performing sides in the league phase an added spell of rest.

All 36 clubs are guaranteed a participation payment of about €18.5 million. That is the minimum amount any Champions League team involved in the league phase can earn.

That figure can rise sharply depending on results. Every win in the league phase is worth an estimated €2 million, while a draw brings in €750,000.

So, if a club wins all eight of its eight league phase matches in the Champions League, it would collect an extra €16 million, taking its total to €34.5 million before bonuses.

As the first of two bonuses, clubs finishing between first and eighth will receive another €2 million for their league phase position, while sides placed ninth to 16th will earn €1 million.

There is also a ranking bonus pool worth roughly €183 million, divided into 666 shares. The club that finishes top of the league phase receives 36 shares, amounting to almost €10 million.

The number of shares then drops by one with each lower position: the team in second gets 35 shares, the side in third gets 34, and so on.

If a club were to win all eight league phase matches and finish first in the table, it could earn an estimated €46.5 million.

In addition, those calculations are based on financial figures from the 2025-26 Champions League. The rewards could increase again this season, as they have done in every campaign.

A club’s final position in the table also shapes the standard of opposition it will meet in the knock-out rounds and can hand the highest-ranked teams home advantage in the later stages.

For teams placed from ninth to 24th, each club is paired against the side in the opposite position in the table. Ninth will meet 24th in the play-off round, 10th will play 23rd, 11th will face 22nd, and so on.

The strongest-performing teams in the Champions League, those ending between first and fourth, are given slightly kinder paths through the knock-out stages because of that home advantage.

The teams finishing first and second will have home advantage first in every knock-out round up to the final, while the clubs placed third and fourth will have home advantage in their Round of 16 and quarter-final ties.

All clubs taking part in this season’s Champions League, which begins tonight, could benefit from all of these advantages if they finish above their European rivals.