English clubs earned an average of £140 million each in prize money in the last six Champions League seasons, according to a report by Italian-based sports business consultancy StageUp. UEFA, European football's governing body, distributed more than £2.6billion to 70 clubs competing in the competition over the last six years.

The study also shows that English clubs received almost four times as much as their Spanish counterparts.

"Our study shows that good policies for sharing revenues in domestic championships, like in the Premier League, are not enough to prevent a few clubs from being the only winners," said Giovanni Palazzi, StageUp president.

Chelsea tops the biggest earners' list with a total of around £162million, followed by Manchester United and Arsenal in second and third respectively. French club Lyon are fourth and Liverpool fifth, the latter with £115million.