AC Milan had probably written off ideas of a top-eight finish in the Champions League after the opening few fixtures. However, it is now a real possibility.
The losses to Liverpool and Leverkusen left a real sour taste in the mouths of Milan fans, and hopes of qualification to the next round faded. A win against Real Madrid changed things massively though, all of a sudden, the hope came back about a top-eight finish.
For the club, it is a dream situation, and Gazzetta dello Sport have looked into why this is the case.
Starting with the big incentive: money. Prize money in the final 16 is at least €15 million, which of course, increases with how deep into the competition you go, so this would help the mid-season revolution greatly.
For example, that aid could be the difference in signing Santiago Gimenez this month, compared to in the summer.
The other big issue is scheduling. If the Rossoneri finish in the top eight, they avoid a Round of 16 qualification play-off, which is another two games to add to an already hectic February schedule. With the squad already looking thin in some areas, any avoidable extra minutes are like gold dust, so Sergio Conceicao will be going all out for a top-eight finish.
It doesn’t really matter the prize, since we aren’t investing but are continuing the last years of Galliani – buying for free and loaning some unrealized talents or bygones.
They are spending
But on ballo toures and royals.
Extra money means nothing when the clowns upstairs will just go spend it on another Emerson or loftus cheek…
And missing the next season’s UCL because of those kind of purchases.
yup. and this will be their excuse for not getting players.
I’d like a comparison. Say our road ends at the round of 16. What would benefit more, an extra match day revenue if we dont make the top 8 or a less busy february?
We might not be in the UCL next season anyway.
Qualification into Round of 16 will net different amounts depending on the route you take to get there.
Your finishing position on the UCL league table will also net you different prize money amounts. (Eg. Finishing 24th is €3.575M, Finishing 9th gets you €7.7M, finishing 5th gets you €8.8M).
Qualifying for play-off rounds get each participating team €1M.
Qualifying for Round of 16 will get each participating team €11M.
If you qualify by a top 8 finish, your position will earn you more €, but you don’t get the extra €1M for the playoff round.
If you finish 9th, play the playoff rounds and get into Round of 16, you might earn more than finishing 8th and not doing the playoff rounds.
In fact you can finish as low as 11th (Position prize €7.15M + Playoff €1M + R16 Qualified €11M) and still earn more than finishing in 8th (Position Prize €7.975M + R16 Qualified €11M).
Trade off of course is 2 additional games to play and tired players.
Look up football-coefficient(dot)eu/money for the figures I used.
2 less games seems like a hugh reward for top 8.
It might allow us to squeeze in the Bologna fixture that we still need to make up.