Manchester United have a crucial final game of the season on Sunday afternoon when they head to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace.
Regardless of the result, it will be a memorable game for a number of reasons. It will be the final game of Ralf Rangnick’s caretaker spell at the helm of Old Trafford before he moves into an advisory role, with Erik ten Hag succeeding him after a successful spell in charge of Dutch giants Ajax.
Going into the game, United sit in sixth but are by no means assured of a place in next season’s Europa League. In order to do so, they must either win in London or match West Ham United’s result against Brighton and Hove Albion.
For United, it has been a season to forget on various levels. Starting the campaign in the Champions League, United crashed out of the competition at the Round of 16 stage and will not be playing in the competition next season, the fourth time in the space in eight seasons where one of the world’s biggest clubs will miss out on European football.
In the league, United are closer on points to the relegation zone than they are to league leaders and city rivals Manchester City, as well crashing out in early rounds of both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
The best United and incoming boss Ten Hag can hope for next season is a place in the Europa League, Europe’s secondary competition, but it is no certainty. A slip up against Palace could see them drop down to the Europa Conference League, a new tournament designed to raise the profile of less well-known clubs, not befitting of a club who have won three European cups and 20 top-flight titles.
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Not qualifying for the Champions League for a club of United’s side is nothing short of disastrous. For Ten Hag and his hoped revolution of revamping the squad in the summer, he may miss out on a number of his top transfer targets due to not being able to entice future signings with a place in the Champions League next term.
It is not just their lack of status in Europe next season that is a concern, United will end this season in sixth or seventh and while either five or six places is a lot to make up in one season, it has been doable. Yet, a 32-point deficit, that could be even higher by 6pm on Sunday, is a fact even more damaging.
If United win and finish sixth, it will be their third sixth-placed finish in the space of six seasons. Should Rangnick’s men fall as far as seventh, it would be their joint-worst finish to a league season since before the Premier League was formed in 1992.
Across the city, Manchester City have already announced the signing of Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund, with the Norwegian considered among the elite number nines in world football? Why? Finances, sustained success and a team of serial winners make it too good for Haaland to ignore.
United meanwhile are now nine years without a league title and could be that way for some time as City and Liverpool continue to be streets above the rest of England’s top-flight. Europa League football next season would at least give Ten Hag some pride, rather than fielding his side in a third-rate competition that a club of United’s stature should be nowhere near.
The two Manchester giants may be separated by just over four miles in distance, but in terms of where the two are at, they are significantly further apart.
