Legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson agrees with Jose Mourinho ’s stance on the Europa League, with the Red Devils looking likely to be in the competition next term.
United have been involved in a battle for the top four all season long but appear set to fail in their task under interim boss Ralf Rangnick. They currently sit sixth in the Premier League standings and five points behind fourth-placed Arsenal with two games left to play.
Victory over Brentford at Old Trafford did at least keep them mathematically in the running for a place back at Europe’s top table but it is looking highly unlikely that Rangnick’s men will be able to overturn the deficit over the closing weeks of the season. It means that United will likely be playing Europa League football next term having reached the final of the same competition last season.
Having dropped into the second tier European competition under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2011, the legendary Scot described United’s place as a ‘penalty’.
Speaking after a 2-1 defeat to FC Basel, he said: "The Europa League is a competition I've never been in at United and it does mean one thing - Sundays right through. Thursdays and Sundays. That's got to be dealt with and it's not the best but that's our penalty for not qualifying tonight."
Since that poor campaign under Ferguson, Manchester United have been in the Europa League on four occasions - even winning the competition against Ajax in 2016/17. Portuguese boss Jose Mourinho led the club to that victory but even he has expressed his scorn of the competition during his stint at Old Trafford.
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Having finished fifth the season prior, Mourinho suggested that the Red Devils did not want to be in the competition - but did have an optimistic outlook on their chances ahead of claiming the trophy. He said: “Look, this is not a competition that Man Utd wants.
“It is not the competition I want, it is not the competition the players want, but it is a competition where we are and that’s the reality. We have to look to the competition with respect.
"I think we want to do well in the competition and for a club of our dimension to do well is not to be out of the competition in the group phase.”
Whilst Ralf Rangnick has failed to get United back into the Champions League, Dutchman Erik ten Hag will now be handed the remit of returning the Red Devils to Europe’s top table. The club has not endured consecutive seasons outside of Europe’s premier continental competition since 1992 so the current Ajax schemer will be desperate to avoid that as he takes the reins from Rangnick in the summer.
They have two chances to secure a place in the Champions League next term. One route is via finishing in the top four and the other is by winning the Europa League. However, the latter might not be easy as first envisaged with the Red Devils having been beaten by Villarreal in the final last season.
