After all, it may not have been Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool or even Tottenham who were the biggest losers in midweek Champions League matches. In fact, Manchester United may be the one most bemoaning the poor performance of English clubs.
Throughout the six matches in which the England team participated, zero teams managed to muster any kind of victory. In other games that didn’t result in defeat, Newcastle drew bravely with Barcelona, while Arsenal held their breath in a 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen.
Judging by the results of this week’s games, it is very likely that no England team will remain in Europe’s top competition at this point in the next seven days. If that is true, it would be a nightmare scenario for United.
That’s because United would have relied on their Premier League rivals making significant progress in the Champions League as insurance against them finishing outside the top four spots. England had an advantage in the UEFA coefficient standings heading into the knockout stages, in no small part because nine clubs had negotiated league matches and had secured a place in the last 16 of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.
But if up to four clubs are eliminated in all three competitions next week, it could be a crushing blow, with the top flight of Italy, Spain and Germany close behind. The standings at the end of Wednesday’s games are as follows:
The good news for United is that the top two teams will be awarded additional Champions League spots. That means it will likely take a late rally from either Germany or Italy to knock England out of the top two. The bad news is that the top spot in the table, which previously looked unassailable, is now looking a bit precarious for the England team.
They don’t want to rely on factors outside of their control to get back into the Champions League, which puts even more pressure on them to finish inside the top four. There is currently a three point difference between third place United and fifth place Chelsea, and it looks like it will be a close battle until the end.
