How Many Clubs Will Manchester Have in the Champions League Next Season?

At the start of the 2024/25 season, it would have been taken for granted that Manchester City would be playing in the Champions League in the 2025/26 campaign. As for Manchester United, fans may have hoped that they too could get back amongst the elite. After their success against Man City in the 2023/24 FA Cup final, which was wholly deserved, and new part-owners making their expertise tell, optimists will have thought that then-boss Erik ten Hag was capable of finally taking the club back to the top table of European football.

The old saying “if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans” springs to mind, and neither club has had the sort of campaign they would have wanted. Whilst United flopping and the hierarchy dispensing with Ten Hag was hardly an earth-shattering surprise, few would have expected the Reds to be in serious danger of finishing 17th in the league. At the time of writing, they are 15th in the table, just two points above West Ham, who sit above the bottom three.

Even fewer football supporters would have predicted that Man City would be down in seventh place after 18 games, or that they would have endured a run of six defeats in eight Premier League matches. Pep Guardiola’s men were still as low as sixth with 31 games played, and whilst a run of four straight wins has moved them up to third, they still face a battle to secure a top-four finish.

City Set to Secure Champions League Spot

Given what we have said about the league positions of both clubs, the uninitiated may deduce that the answer to the titular question is that one of the Manchester giants seems likely to qualify for next term’s UEFA Champions League: Man City. As things stand, Pep’s beleaguered outfit lie in third place in the table and may even be able to secure second spot given Arsenal’s recent stumbles.

The current race for the Champions League can be seen in the table below:

With three games still to play, City are well placed and even more so when we consider that this time around, the top five clubs in the Premier League will all earn a Champions League spot next term. The league earned an extra spot due to the performances of its clubs in this year’s three European competitions. That gives City a little more margin for error as they have a three-point advantage over sixth, but just a one-point lead over Chelsea, who currently lie fifth.

City do have an FA Cup final to contend with, with their game against Crystal Palace set to take place on the 17th of May. Before that, they have a trip to the south coast in store and will fancy their chances of beating Southampton, even if the manager opts to rest some players ahead of their game at Wembley.

The Saints remain in danger of matching the worst-ever points total in a PL campaign. They have collected a mere 11 points from their 35 games thus far, losing 28 times and having a shocking goal difference of negative 57. If City cannot see off Southampton then some may argue they do not deserve to play CL football next season.

After the FA Cup final, they have a midweek clash with Bournemouth at the Etihad and again, one would have to fancy them to win that with home advantage. Five days later, on the 25th of May, City finish their season with a trip to Fulham. They may well already be assured of a top-five spot but if not, once again, it is a game they should be well capable of winning. The Cottagers are a decent side and, like Bournemouth, could still be fighting for the Europa Conference spot, but even so, Pep’s men will be big favourites.

City’s cause is also massively helped by the fact that several of their rivals have to play each other. Forest play Chelsea on the final day, whilst Chelsea must also travel to Newcastle, who in turn also face a trip to Arsenal. Those fixtures guarantee a number of dropped points for City’s top-five rivals and so all in all we feel confident in predicting that City will be sitting at Europe’s top table once again next season.

But United Might Just Sneak in Too

Strange as it may seem, Man United also have a very good chance of sneaking into the Champions League next term as well. Whilst they are likely to finish between 14th and 17th, they have an excellent chance of winning the Europa League. The winners of that competition will earn a spot in the Champions League as well, so there is every chance that the Red Devils could be England’s sixth team in the elite competition in 2025/26.

United only qualified for the Europa League by virtue of winning the FA Cup just under a year ago, having finished eighth in the Premier League in 2023/24. However, somehow, despite their repeated horror shows in the league, they have managed to advance in the Europa League and are now just one average result and one decent one away from competing against the continental elite next term.

United finished third in the league phase of the Europa League, winning five of their eight games and, in fact, being the only side in the competition to go unbeaten at that stage. Athletic Bilbao finished one place above them, whilst Spurs finished one place beneath them and it is now, more than likely, those two clubs that stand in the way of United securing an unlikely berth in the Champions League.

Ruben Amorim’s men have survived some huge scares along the way, so we take nothing for granted, but as things stand, they lead Bilbao 3-0. With that win coming in Spain, United are huge favourites to secure a spot in the final. Their opponents there are likely to be Spurs, after the north London outfit won 3-1 against Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt in their first leg at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

So, whilst there are potentially three huge games left for City, and two for United, there seems a strong likelihood that both will, somewhat against the odds, be in the Champions League next season.