Louis Van Gaal Aims For Europa League

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has said that the best chance for his team to qualify for next season’s Champions League might be winning the Europa League, following defeat to Sunderland.

Louis van Gaal admitted Manchester United’s best chance of qualifying for next season’s Champions League might be winning the Europa League, following defeat to Sunderland. With the Premier League's top four sides playing each other on Sunday, United had the chance to make up ground on their rivals in the weekend's early kick-off at the Stadium of Light but they were beaten 2-1 by the struggling Black Cats to remain fifth in the table, six points adrift of the top four, having played a game more.

Asked if the club's presence in Europe's elite competition was the bare minimum, he said: "Yes - but that's also our aim, so you cannot close your eyes from that. Today it was very disappointing because we needed to win this game because of the big gap between the top four. We want to be there and now it will be very difficult”.