Real Madrid and Barcelona are football's biggest earners for the third straight year and seem likely to out-earn their rivals for the foreseeable future.

The annual review of football finances by Deloitte shows Madrid topping the list for the seventh straight year, with revenue of à479.5-million in the year ending June 30 - an increase of 9% on the previous 12 months.

English champions Manchester United were again in third place with à367-million, the highest of four English clubs in the top-10 earners. Bayern Munich are fourth with à321.4-million, with Arsenal, Chelsea, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Liverpool and Schalke next.

One more year at the top for Madrid would equal United's No1 streak from 1997-2004, but the accountancy firm says on-field success could still push Barcelona into first place next year.

Barcelona trail Madrid by seven points in the Spanish league, but their revenue increased by 13% to à451-million, and could rise further if the team retains the Champions League title.

Defending Spanish and European champions Barcelona receive about à30-million a season in a sponsorship deal with the Qatar Foundation and earned à51-million from last season's Champions League final, in which they beat United 3-1 at Wembley.

Barcelona already have à3.5-million towards next year's total after winning Fifa's Club World Cup.

United are certain to trail again next season after their early elimination from this season's Champions League, only the second time in 16 seasons they have failed to progress from the group stage.

Madrid and Barcelona have both made the last 16 and have such earning power that even a move to collective bargaining for broadcast revenue - the model long employed by England's Premier League - is unlikely to affect their financial dominance.

The top 20 clubs in the Deloitte list generated a combined à4.4-billion in the 2010-2011 season, about 3% up on 2009-2010.

Tottenham rose above Manchester City to 11th place after reaching the Champions League quarterfinals in their debut campaign.

Borussia Dortmund, Valencia and Napoli were newcomers in the top 20.