Where does the money come from for three of the Champions League semi-finalists?

ChelseaAnd the City of ManchesterAnd the Paris Saint-Germain e Real Madrid. These are the clubs that still dream of the greatest glory of European football: winning in Champions League. Such as The semi-finals will take place between the end of April and the beginning of May, With the decision scheduled for May 29, in Istanbul.

There is a point that unites three of the live clubs in the dispute. While Real Madrid, alone, boasts the largest collection of trophies in the Champions League (13), Chelsea, City and Paris Saint-Germain have reached this level in a very similar way: fed by millions and millions of euros, dollars and pounds that have changed these cups. Stories.

But where do the investments that put the trio on the shelves of the big Europeans to the point of challenging Real Madrid come from? a ESPN.com.br It is explained below on a case-by-case basis.

Chelsea

Merengue’s semi-final rival, Chelsea were the first of the three to become a millionaire. The London club was bought in 2003 by businessman Roman Abramovich.

The Russian billionaire, who has businesses related to oil, aluminum and natural gas, paid £ 140m in the summer of that year to control 100% of Blues, Up until then it was a half-table team and had 12 titles in 98 years of history, and they were only two of the English championships.

With Abramovi, Chelsea became a strength: five times he won the Premier League, And ten other Domestic Cups and the 2011-12 season, plus two of the European League. In 18 years, the Russian has invested more than 1 billion pounds in new players and coaches.

City of Manchester

Another traditional Englishman, but a minimal record of achievement has seen his history completely change with foreign investment. In 2008, the “poor cousin” of wealthy Manchester United bought all the shares for £ 210m by the Abu Dhabi United Group, which would later create the City Football Group, which today includes ten clubs around the world.

The group is the arm of the development and investment sector in the United Arab Emirates and is controlled by Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. City Football Group recently sold 13% of the shares to Chinese investors, for a total of £ 265m.

Less than two decades later, City is perhaps the greatest strength in England: moving to the third Premier League in the past five years, dominating the domestic cups and having a chance, this season, to win all the titles possible. Pep Guardiola, Kevin De Bruyne and his companions preferred, but also money.

Paris Saint-Germain

The French team was the last of the three to get rich. In 2011, Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) paid 50 million euros for 70% of control of the club, which had its shining moments in the past but was far from titles even in France.

As an organ of the government of Qatar, QSI is used as a way to showcase the country internationally, which will host the 2022 World Cup. The owner is Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, but the position of president is Nasser Al Khelaifi, who has spared no expense in putting Paris Saint-Germain where it is today.

Since then, the club has won 26 titles, nine of them from French championshipMore than a billion euros were spent on boosters from Neymar carats, Kylian Mbappe, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani, Thiago Silva and David Beckham, to name a few. What’s Missing: The Champions Title, after last year’s runner-up.