Real Madrid still world's richest football club, says Deloitte

Real Madrid won La Liga title in 2011/12 with a record points tally

Real Madrid has topped Deloitte's football rich list for the eighth year in a row, with revenues breaking 500m euros (£420m) for the first time.

Barcelona, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Chelsea make up the rest of the top five spots, based on data for the 2011-12 season.

Chelsea's revenues were boosted significantly by winning both the Uefa Champions League and the FA Cup.

Manchester City was joint top riser, jumping from twelfth to seventh spot.

The club's revenues rose to 286m euros from 170m euros the previous season, thanks to winning the Premier League and a controversial sponsorship deal.

The club has signed a 10-year deal with Etihad Airways worth a reported 480m euros.

Etihad is the flag-carrier of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and is based in Abu Dhabi. Manchester City is owned by Sheikh Mansour, a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi, which is one of the emirates that makes up the UAE.

Critics have argued the deal is designed to circumvent Uefa's financial fair play rules, designed to stop clubs spending more than they earn. The club has refuted the claims.

Arsenal dropped one place to sixth due to Chelsea's success on the pitch, but recorded a 40m-euro jump in revenues.

Liverpool held on to ninth spot, with revenues growing by 30m euros despite a disappointing season in the Premier League and a lack of European football for the first time since 1999-2000. This was due in part to two domestic cup final appearances and the new owners focusing on increasing commercial revenues.

Italian giants AC Milan and Juventus, which won Serie A, took the other places in the top 10 list.

'Remarkable'

With total revenues of 513m euros, Real Madrid equalled Manchester United's record of topping the list for eight consecutive seasons.

"Real have led the way in the phenomenal level of revenue growth enjoyed by the sport's top clubs over the past two decades," Deloitte said.

"The Spanish club's revenue growth has been remarkable. In 1996-97, the first season for which we published our Money League analysis, Real generated revenues of 85m euros, one sixth of the revenues they generated in 2011-12."

Deloitte also highlighted the fact that the club enjoys a balanced revenue stream, with 25% coming from match days, 39% from broadcasting and 36% from commercial sales.

Global appeal

Borussia Dortmund took 11th place thanks to a successful season on the pitch, while Inter Milan fell out of the top 10 for the first time in a decade.

Tottenham Hotspur fell two places to 13th after revenues dropped slightly, while Schalke 04 dropped four places to 14th as revenues fell by 25m euros after the club was unable to repeat the success of its 2010-11 Champions League campaign, when it reached the semi-finals.

Outside the so-called big five European leagues, Dutch club Ajax were placed 24th with revenues of 104.1m euros, while Turkish giants Galatasaray were 30th, with revenues of 95.1m euros.

Outside Europe, Brazilian club Corinthians, which won this year's Club World Cup, beating Chelsea in the final, were next after Galatasaray on the list, with revenues of 94.1m euros.

In the coming years, Deloitte said a bumper new TV deal for the Premier League worth more than 3.5bn euros for the three-year period from 2013-14 was likely to see more English clubs break into the top 20.