Manchester rivals braced to battle for final WSL Champions League spot

The Guardian

03-05-2025

If Manchester United's women avoid defeat on Sunday, they will secure a place in Europe for only the second time and to make it even sweeter, would do so at the expense of Manchester City, who would be consigned to fourth spot and a season without Women's Champions League football.
Throw in that City are the visitors to Old Trafford for Sunday's midday kick-off and it becomes one of the most pivotal games of this WSL campaign and a decisive one for the clubs' medium-term trajectories.
To beat City and celebrate in front of the Stretford End would be a symbolic moment for an improving team. Marc Skinner, though, is keen to play down the venue as a factor. 'I absolutely love Old Trafford, but the reality is I have to take the stadium away and be like: 'We have to win the game regardless,'' he said.
'It doesn't matter where we're playing. Both of us have the goal of winning the game. They [City] want to qualify for the Champions League and so do we, so winning the game is more important. If it's at Old Trafford in front of all our fans, that's brilliant.'
Skinner's side also have a chance to do something United's women have never done: complete a league double over City, having won 4-2 at the Etihad Stadium in January, and beat them at Old Trafford for the first time. A victory would mark the women's team's greatest Old Trafford moment.
United have won five of their seven WSL matches there but those have been three victories over West Ham and wins against Aston Villa and Everton, whereas they have lost both meetings with top-four opponents, against Chelsea and Manchester City last term.
United's record against City, though, leaves a lot to be desired. City have lost only two of 10 WSL Manchester derbies and they have been buoyed by the return in last Sunday's 1-0 win at Leicester of England's Lauren Hemp and Alex Greenwood for their first appearances of 2025.
The interim City head coach, Nick Cushing, said: 'It was always the plan to bring them off the bench in that game to give them the best possible chance to be able to return for this game. It is nice to get Laura Blindkilde Brown and Aoba Fujino back in training this week. We have three or four back, which makes our team look very different. They are key, international players, which has been a huge lift. The fact they were in training means they are in contention.'
Still, the odds are against City, who need victories in both remaining league matches and must hope United fail to win at Arsenal on 10 May's final day if they are to finish in the top three.
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'It'd be huge,' Skinner said on the prospect of United returning to Europe. 'We want to go further than we did before but we know we've got to qualify first, to get to those knockout rounds. It'd be huge, in your recruitment, because I feel people want to come to Manchester United but maybe we get pipped because we're not in the Champions League.'
At home, United have been defensively resolute this season, conceding three goals in 10 WSL fixtures. They will hope to move into second place ahead of Arsenal, who play at Brighton on Monday, and then go to the Emirates with a chance of claiming the runners-up spot.
For Cushing a fourth-placed finish would be hugely disappointing and the former New York City FC coach said of City's hopes of European qualification: 'It's about the status of our team. We have worked hard over the last 10-15 years to make sure our football club is at the level that I expect of a Manchester City team. Not being in contention [for] the Champions League is really disappointing and something that is beyond our thinking. It's still possible so we have to attack it and make sure we do everything possible to get there.'