Man United have one route into the Champions League left (Image: Getty)
could be one of seven clubs competing in the next season, as is offered a lifeline following his torrid start to life at Old Trafford. The Red Devils currently sit 14 points behind fourth spot, with their hope of Champions League qualification resting solely on their Europa League campaign.
The three-time European champions will head into Thursday’s second leg against Real Sociedad tied at 1-1 following last week’s first encounter in San Sebastian. Joshua Zirkzee had given the travelling Premier League side a second-half advantage, but United were pegged back just 13 minutes later when Mikel Oyarzabal converted from the spot.
It leaves them with work to do when the La Liga outfit make the trip to Manchester on Thursday, but should they progress past La Real, the competition begins to open up for them. United will play one of Lyon or FCSB in the last eight and should they make it as far as the semi-finals, it will be a final four clash against either Fenerbahce, Rangers, Athletic Club or Roma.
While Amorim and co. will still expect a tough contest in any of those prospective ties, because this season there aren’t any Champions League sides dropping into the Europa League, United – despite their domestic struggles – are still one of the favourites left in the competition.
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Seven English sides could be competing in the Champions League next season (Image: Getty)
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It’s a similar situation for , who like United have no hope of qualifying for the Champions League via the league, meaning their only shot of making it into next year’s edition is via the Europa League.
Should either of the remaining two English teams taste Europa League glory this season, they could make up a bumper selection of Premier League sides in the Champions League next term. As things stand, because of the league’s impressive coefficient, five qualification spots are expected to be on offer to Premier League sides.
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Add in a potential Europa League win for either United or Spurs, and that jumps to six competing sides, but a seventh qualifier could join them if Aston Villa go on to win the Champions League this season. It would require them to finish outside the top five in the league, but as the defending champions, they’d be granted automatic qualification into the tournament next season.
While an unlikely outcome given all of the moving parts that would need to fall into place, the prospect of England having seven Champions League qualifiers is only possible because of a recent UEFA rule change. Previously, nations were restricted on how many teams they could enter into the Champions League – a rule that is no longer in place.