Manchester United's dramatic late collapse at
Chelsea on Thursday night means their
Champions League qualification hopes are in tatters. The Reds came from two down to lead 3-2 at Stamford Bridge but conceded twice in the dying embers of stoppage time to suffer a damaging and dispiriting defeat. Had Erik ten Hag's side held on for the win they would have cut the gap to Aston Villa in fourth and
Tottenham in fifth to eight and six points respectively. Instead the Reds are 11 points off the top four with a game in hand and nine behind Spurs. Finishing fifth could well be enough to earn a spot in the revamped Champions League but that now looks beyond United heading into the final eight games. ALSO READ: Ten Hag makes admission about Man United's Champions League qualifying chances ALSO READ: United are repeating mistakes that risk the manager getting sacked Currently, Serie A in
Italy and the German Bundesliga are going to benefit from extra Champions League places, which are calculated on the average performance of clubs in Europe. But the
Premier League remains strongly fancied to overhaul one or both given five English clubs remain in the three European competitions. If that is the case then the top five will all enter the Champions League while sixth will earn a spot in the Europa League . If not, then fifth will take the automatic Europa League qualification slot and United could end up in the Conference League. That would depend on who wins the FA Cup , which could be United themselves. The victors will automatically be in the Europa League next season but if the winners have already qualified for Europe via the Premier League, the next highest team in the top flight will take that spot. So if
England has four Champions League qualifiers, FA Cup success for
Manchester City would mean fifth and sixth place earning Europa League spots. If Coventry or Chelsea lift the trophy then sixth would enter the Conference League. If United win the FA Cup then they will enter the Europa League regardless of their finishing position. If five Premier League teams earn Champions League football, then sixth will be enough for the Europa League regardless of who wins the FA Cup. Finishing seventh or eighth in the Premier League could earn European
Football next season depending on the various scenarios at play. Still following? Here comes the other wildcard in the shape of West Ham. Previously there was a cap on the number of teams from one country able to compete in the Champions League. But from 2024-25 that has been removed meaning if the Hammers win the Europa League and finish outside the European places in the Premier League, they would earn a Champions League spot, but it would not have a knock-on effect on any other English qualifiers for Europe. That scenario could see six Premier League sides in the Champions League, but it's increasingly unlikely one of them will be United.