Manchester United have been told that it is a “disgrace” they have the potential to qualify for the Champions League by winning the Europa League this season.
Manchester United have had a terrible season so far in the Premier League and currently sit 14th in the table with little time to improve upon that position.
Ruben Amorim’s side are relying on the Europa League for any form of success to come from this campaign, with their quarter-final second-leg against Lyon coming later this week.
Of course, victory in that competition would not only make it three consecutive years with silverware but also would secure a place in the Champions League for United next term.
That would provide a huge financial boost for Amorim ahead of the summer window and could also be useful in negotiates with players who want to play European football next term.
United told they shouldn’t benefit from “elitist” Europa League rule
United might get Champions League football through winning the Europa League but they won’t do so without some sort of opposition.
MailSport journalist Ian Ladyman has come out this week and slammed the fact that United could creep into the top European competition in this way – the same way the last nine Europa League winners have done.
Ladyman described the ruling as “elitism in its purest and dirtiest form” and believes that it is hurting the traditional mid-table clubs pushing forward in the Premier League despite the fact that the Europa League winners do not take anyone else’s spot in the competition.
“If you win the Europa League this season you go straight into next season’s Champions League, you don’t even go into the qualifiers, you go into the group stage and I think that is fundamentally wrong and unfair,” the journalist raged on the ‘It’s All Kicking Off’ podcast.
“I’m talking specifically about clubs like Brighton, Brentford and Fulham… to start chipping away at that glass ceiling that we know has been there in the Premier League for so long only to find one of the traditional elite clubs has got a route into the Champions League.
“Tottenham and United have bombed in the league, there should be no reward, it’s absolutely wrong. It’s a kick in the nuts for teams who are progressing in the Premier League.
“There’s no justification at all for a Europa League winning club to be handed a free pass and all the money that comes with it into European football’s elite competition.”
United cause journalist anger…
Journalists making up any reason to be angry at Manchester United… what a shock.
I’m sure that if United were in a better league position and fighting for the Champions League as a fifth-placed side, there would be more problems about a quarter of the division being able to qualify.
It is simply a ridiculous complaint especially since there is an example of the current system benefiting West Ham, who are the type of club Ladyman seems to care about.
The Hammers finished 14th in the 2022/23 Premier League table but qualified for the Europa League for the follow season after they won the 2023 Europa Conference League. But the prospect of that same system benefiting United is horrible and “elitist”, according to Ladyman.
United are far, far away from being back at the top of the Premier League but you can only imagine how hated the club will be once that happens again. The Reds are barely a threat at the moment but still boil the blood of so many supporters.
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