I noticed Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Erik ten Hag flagged the same FFP issue at Man United - but only one of them can fix it

With 11 games left to play, Manchester United's hopes of securing Champions League qualification are rapidly fading.

Sunday's 3-1 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium marked a second successive Premier League defeat, leaving them 11 points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa. United have now lost 11 league games this season, several of which have been inflicted on them in games they ought to have won.

Too many below-par performances and embarrassing results have contributed to the Reds' regression this season, meaning the task of overtaking Liverpool and Manchester City in the coming years looks even more challenging than it did 12 months ago. You could argue United are fortunate to find themselves in sixth and still in with a chance of clinching a top four finish.

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If United are to secure Champions League qualification for next season, their form between now and the end of the season is going to have to be almost faultless, without even accounting for the form of their main rivals chasing the same target. Of their 11 remaining games, they may easily have to win at least nine of them.

Champions League qualification looks as though it will be incredibly difficult to achieve. United need to become more consistent than ever before and hope Villa and Tottenham Hotspur stumble.

With that said, participation in the Europa League or the Europa Conference League next season is far more likely. That will impact the money they make, resulting in a knock-on effect in the transfer market, both in terms of the level of funding available and the players United