The teams competing in this year’s Champions League are set to receive a massive 38% increase in prize money.

Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool are the Premier League’s representatives this season and each is in line for a bumper windfall.

UEFA will pay out €1.95 billion to the 32 clubs across the course of the tournament, highlighting its importance to Europe’s top teams.

Liverpool earned around €78m for their run to the final last season and that income proved pretty handy during this summer’s transfer window.

However, as with many things UEFA related, they have ensured that the rich will get even richer with the way they have structured their payments this season.

A new coefficient ranking has been introduced on the basis of the performance of each of the competition’s participating clubs over a ten-year period. The total amount of €585.05m allocated to coefficient payments has been divided into ‘coefficient shares’, with each share worth €1.108m.

The lowest-ranked of the 32 teams will receive one share, while the second lowest will receive two shares, the third lowest will receive three shares and so on.

As noted by respected football business blogger, Swiss Ramble, this puts even more income into the coffers of Europe’s top clubs.

This new revenue distribution method clearly benefits traditional big clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona at the expense of clubs from countries with large TV pools (i.e. England and Italy). Lack of qualification has hurt #CFC and #AFC, who are ranked 6th and 9th respectively. pic.twitter.com/oIID4IqtHZ

— Swiss Ramble (@SwissRamble) September 10, 2018

When you consider that Atletico Madrid earned €27m for winning last season’s Europa League, it shows just how much money the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal have missed out on by failing to qualify for the Champions League.

As the Gunners have found out to their cost in recent times, it becomes increasingly difficult to attract top players if you are not playing in Europe’s top club competition.

Chelsea were fortunate this summer to hang onto most of their top stars, with Maurizio Sarri’s appointment as the club’s new manager undoubtedly playing a part in that.

However, the Blues can ill-afford another season out of the Champions League if they are to remain as a major player in the European game.

While Chelsea and Arsenal are left to feed off Europa League scraps this term, the other four members of the Premier League’s so-called ‘Big Six’ will happily be laughing all the way to the bank.

The Champions League gravy train shows no signs of slowing down just yet.