Arsenal make it their target each and every season, and they have achieved it each time since 1998/99. Yet they've never managed to win it. Yes, you guessed it - it's the Champions League.

Liverpool managed to qualify for Europe's top club competition after a remarkable title challenge left them finishing up in 2nd place last term. However, they lost their best player in Luis Suarez, who essentially played a massive part in their qualification for the competition, and the Reds have since struggled in the Premier League this season as a consequence of the extra fixtures. They've not been particularly impressive in the Champions League either - it's simply a case of a lack of squad depth.

They've struggled so much to keep a strong squad in enough fixtures that they even ended up playing a weakened side against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu - a once in a lifetime opportunity for most. It was an honour for the five-time winners to get back into the competition after a absence of four seasons, but it certainly hasn't been an enjoyable experience thus far. From a season of pure delight (minus the final few games) to a season of inevitable struggles, qualifying for the Champions League hasn't been particularly enjoyable on Merseyside?

Of course deep down the Liverpool faithful are still enjoying being back in the competition, especially when arch-rivals Man United are not included. The Reds needed to get back in the top spots of the Premier League and that is essentially what every club is aiming for, but perhaps it came too early for them. Once you're in the top spots in the Premier League, Champions League qualification is the 'reward'. It's an opportunity to pit yourself against the top sides in Europe and an a chance to win the most prestigious trophy in European club football.

Even though Liverpool are proving this season how impossible it seems for a club to excel in the competition after a considerable period of absence, every club in the league and everyone involved with each club would love to be in the competition - but why?

As aforementioned, the chance for your side to be amongst the best in the continent is a fantastic opportunity, and for the supporters travelling Europe in support of your side can be an incredible experience.

Let's not forget that there is another European competition which causes perhaps even more havoc to the participating teams - yes, you guessed it, it's the 'not quite so prestigious' Europa League. It's most certainly taken its toll on Tottenham in recent years with the extra travelling, ahead of weekend fixtures having hindered results. It is really worth it?

What about the monetary gains, because at the end of the day each football club is a business. As you would expect the Champions League is far more lucrative - the base rate for making it into the group stage is a mere £6.8m, with an extra £790,000 per victory, and just shy of £400,000 for a group stage draw. Large amounts are available for making it through each round with the winner of the competition gaining around £8.3m. Tallied up, the winner of the Champions League (providing they win all six group stage matches) will earn around £30m - not bad at all!

That certainly seems a decent reason to want to qualify for the top European competition. How about the Europa League? Well, following the same route as above the winning team will earn around £7.8m. The runner-up will earn around £6m so making the final is the priority for any serious money-makers. A long way off the Champions League but still a reasonable amount of money to the lesser sides.

Participating in the Premier League is as lucrative as ever and if your entire life was about money, you wouldn't be particularly bothered about qualifying for Europe. From TV money alone the top sides who are in-or-around the European spots will earn around £70m, making the £7.8m of winning the Europa League look like petty cash. The sides who finish in the top four will earn a merit amount of £20+, making their total earnings from TV and prize money from the Premier League alone somewhere around the £90m mark. Of course winning the competitions is more about the sheer pride rather than the prize but the £30m awarded by the Champions League is a nice little earner.

So, if you qualify for Europe you're domestic performances will drop and unless you win the entire competition you won't earn a great amount - even then it's not a scratch on competing in the Premier League. So the only reason to play in Europe is to enjoy competing against the top sides in Europe, and for the supporters to get a taste of life abroad. I suppose that's not a bad reason to qualify but it's certainly not the be all and end all - Arsene...

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