Manchester United missed out on European football next season after losing the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur this week
Manchester United have been handed a meagre boost after missing out on Champions League football next season.
United went into the Europa League final against Tottenham Hotspur as the favourites to win and claim their place at European football's top table. However, the Reds underperformed in Bilbao and were made to pay as Brennan Johnson's only goal won the trophy for Spurs.
Now, United face the reality of no European football next season with the Reds instead turning their full focus to the domestic campaign as they look to rebuild their confidence under Ruben Amorim. With the lack of European football comes a significant drop in money coming into the club.
Ineos will therefore have to rely on player sales to help increase Amorim's transfer fund. Ultimately, the future looks bleak for the Reds at present but they have at least managed to miss out on an embarrassing moment in the Champions League next season.
This year, UEFA have introduced a new format to their European competitions. Instead of the group stage, the Champions League and Europa League had a 36-team league phase to begin the tournament.
Each team was placed into one of four pots and would go on to face two teams from each pot in the first phase. Previously, the Europa League winners would get a place automatically in Pot A due to their performance in the second-tier competition.
Now, it is only the Champions League winner who is guaranteed a place in Pot A next season. The rest are assigned a position based on their UEFA coefficient ranking.
As each team must play two clubs from each pot, the advantage of being in Pot A is greatly reduced. However, that will not avoid the embarrassment for Spurs when they are likely placed in a lower pot due to their poor performance in the Premier League this season.
The exact pots for each team will be decided once the qualifying rounds have been completed. Ultimately, this is a meagre boost for United who would much rather be in the Champions League than out of it.
But, the hope from the United camp will be that without the distraction of European football, they can return to at least the Europa League for the 2026/27 season.
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