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Manchester United’s disappointing campaign has left them languishing behind the chasing pack in the Premier League.
An early exit from the Champions League added to the frustration at Old Trafford and has left Erik ten Hag under huge pressure at the club.
The Dutchman’s job is likely to hinge on whether United manage to qualify for next season’s Champions League or not but he faces an uphill battle with the team currently sat in sixth position in the league.
With the top four places traditionally guaranteeing entry into Europe’s premier club competition, qualification currently looks a long way off for United.
However, with the introduction of the new-look Champions League next season, there are extra places up for grabs which could mean England have five participants rather than four.
As reported by The Analyst, each country’s representatives in the three major European competitions will determine which league gets the spots based on how far they get in the respective tournaments.
Coefficient points are awarded to each country as their teams progress through the rounds which means United will be needing a favour from arch-rivals Manchester City and Liverpool, plus Arsenal, Brighton, West Ham and Aston Villa who are all still active in Europe.
After the latest round of Champions League action and following Atletico Madrid’s comeback win against Inter Milan, the points have closed at the top of the rankings in which Italy lead the way.
As reported by Get Football News Italy, the gap between Italy and second-placed Germany reduced last night but Italy remain at the top with four teams still left in European competitions (Atalanta, Milan, Roma and Fiorentina) with a total of 16,571 points.
Germany are second with 15,928 points and they too have four teams left; Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Freiburg and the impressive Bayer Leverkusen.
England are third with six teams left and have exactly 15,000 points. France are at fourth with 14,416 points but the disadvantage for them is that they have only three teams left fighting in Europe.
This all means that the two extra Champions League spots seem likely to come from two of England, Italy or Germany with the points tight between the top three.
Given England have six participants including three of the most in-form teams at present, there is a huge chance that the extra spot will go to the Premier League which should give United the extra incentive to keep winning matches.
However, even with fifth place potentially being enough for Champions League qualification, the task looks a big one for Ten Hag and United.
The Red Devils are currently eight points behind Villa in fourth and six behind Spurs in fifth. Spurs also have a game in hand over the two.
With just ten games remaining and no direct game against Villa or Spurs, United know they will need a near perfect end to the season to finish above one, or both, of those clubs.
United aren’t back in league action until the last weekend of the month with the FA Cup quarter-final on the horizon this weekend, followed by the last international break of the season.
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