Manchester United may ‘sacrifice’ their FA Cup campaign and prioritise a tilt at Champions League qualification via the Premier League and Europa League, former defender Gary Neville has claimed.
United face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the last eight of the FA Cup on Monday as they look to add to the EFL Cup title they won last month. Their only chance of qualifying for Europe’s top club competition, however, is through a top-four finish or victory in the Europa League.
Jose Mourinho’s side were beaten 4-0 on their last visit to the Premier League leaders in October and the Manchester United boss has ruled out playing a weakened side at Stamford Bridge despite a busy run of fixtures.
But Neville – who won three FA Cup medals at Old Trafford – said the clash with Chelsea will be a good indication of where United’s priorities lie.
‘It comes down to what Mourinho prioritises. The FA Cup could be a competition that United sacrifice because they have to try and get into the Champions League,’ he told Omnisport.
‘Obviously the only two routes are the Europa League and Premier League games.
‘It will be a big challenge mentally on Monday. It might be the one, at this moment in time, that they can sacrifice in terms of trying not to complicate the fixture congestion any more.’
To the dismay of Mourinho, United face Rostov in the second leg of their Europa League last-16 tie just three days after the clash at Stamford Bridge.
Despite their continued fixture pile up, however, Mourinho’s side have lost only one of their last 28 matches in all
competitions.
But they still sit sixth in the Premier League, 17 points behind Chelsea, who have recovered from an indifferent start under Antonio Conte.
Neville had hoped United would be able to end their four-year wait for a league title this season. But he says the strength of Chelsea has ultimately made it impossible for anyone to lead his former club to a 14th Premier League triumph.
‘I thought United would have a chance at the start of the season,’ Neville said. ‘But when Diego Costa and Eden Hazard turned up and they corrected their defensive problems by going three at the back, it became pretty apparent quickly that the old Chelsea were back.
He added: ‘The challenge at United was probably bigger than what everyone thought. When I look at it now, I don’t think anyone could’ve won the league with United this season.’
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