Europe's top clubs count cost of Champions League exit

Some of Europe's top clubs, including Juventus, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, are counting the cost of being eliminated from the Champions League at the first knockout stage this week.

Some 10 million pounds ($17.94 million) in prize money, gate receipts and UEFA's Market Pool is available to this year's winners. More than eight million pounds of that comes from prize money with the rest from gate receipts and merchandising.

So the cost of going out is substantial and was reflected in the share prices of clubs who are quoted on the stock market.

Juventus, who lost on penalties to Italian rivals AC Milan in last year's final, have seen their share price fall by more than five percent since Wednesday's defeat at the hands of Spanish side Deportivo Coruna at the Delle Alpi.

In its latest financial results covering the three months to December 31, 2003, the club announced it had slipped 22.5 million euros ($27.67 million) into the red -- a turnaround from the eight million profit posted six months earlier.

Given that financial background the long-term consequences of Juve's exit will only become clear when the transfer market reopens at the end of the season. They are still in the hunt to keep their Serie A title but trail Milan by six points.

United failed to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in eight seasons, after Porto got a 90th minute goal at Old Trafford to beat the English champions 3-2 on aggregate.

United's share price initially dropped just over four percent on Wednesday after their elimination but has partly recovered. The club's position at the top of a "rich list" of the world's soccer clubs clearly counts for something.

With income of 251.4 million euros in the 2002/03 season the Old Trafford club, whose matchday receipts of 101 million euros is over three times greater than their closest Italian rivals, can clearly cope with a slight dent in their earnings.

"It's not make-or-break for the finances," United chief executive David Gill told the Manchester Evening News on the eve of Tuesday's clash with Porto. "We haven't forecast to get to the quarter-finals so it won't impact on what we have in our internal projections for this year."

Bayern Munich, who were eliminated by nine-times European champions Real Madrid on Wednesday, also said that all their financial calculations this season were based only on the club surviving the Champions League group stage.

Reaching the first knockout round guaranteed Bayern about six million euros ($7.38 million) in revenue, excluding ticket sales and television money, and the club's executives said they had nothing to worry about financially.

"We've earned more than we had expected by reaching the knockout stage," said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

"Reaching the quarter-finals would have brought us an extra four million euros but we are still in a position that will enable us to pay the salaries on time."

For the smaller clubs in Europe just getting past the group stage was a huge success both on and off the pitch.

Spanish teams Celta Vigo and Real Sociedad have done well out of the competition and emerged with a healthy profit that has provided a welcome injection of funds.

Both teams were making their Champions League debuts this season, with Celta qualifying for Europe's top club competition for the first time and Sociedad following up their appearance in the European Cup in the early 1980s.

Unlike their more illustrious European counterparts they do not expect to qualify every year and see the Champions League as a bonus, especially as both made the first knockout round before going out to Arsenal and Olympique Lyon respectively.