What would finishing sixth mean for Man United? European clarity amid fading Champions League hopes

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.

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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