How an Instagram post sealed Man Utd’s Champions League fate

Robin Bairner

• 17 Apr 2024 02:10 CDT
• 4 min read

Manchester United go into the final weeks of the Premier League season with no chance of playing Champions League football next season, and it’s partly because of an Instagram post made way back in September 2023.

More than a year before UEFA’s new format for the competition begins, Man Utd’s hopes of participation were already unravelling in the aftermath of their dramatic 3-1 loss to Arsenal at the Emirates.

Marcus Rashford had got the day off to a positive start for Erik ten Hag’s side by scoring the opener after 27 minutes, but their joy was symbolically short lived. Martin Odegaard equalised within seconds, while goals in the 96th and 101st minutes from Declan Rice and Gabriel Jesus consigned United to defeat.

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Worse followed, though. Jadon Sancho had not been in the matchday squad and when quizzed about his decision to leave the winger out, Ten Hag indicated that he was unhappy with the attitude of the former Borussia Dortmund player.

“Jadon wasn’t selected because of his training performance,” the Dutchman let slip after the game.

A response from Sancho was not long in coming.

“Please don’t believe everything you read! I will not allow people saying things that [are] completely untrue. I have conducted myself in training very well this week,” he posted on social media.

“I believe there are other reasons for this matter that I won’t go into, I have been a scapegoat for a long time which isn’t fair!”

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And so ended Sancho’s relationship with Ten Hag.

Although he deleted his posts (and Instagram account), he refused to apologise for his actions and was exiled from the team.

With neither party willing to give an inch, Ten Hag took the fateful decision to send Sancho back to Dortmund on loan – and it’s cost Man Utd dearly.

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Jadon Sancho and the fifth Champions League spot

Sancho has played a significant role in firing Dortmund to the semi-finals of this season’s competition, in which they will tackle PSG.

In doing so, he has won a heap of UEFA Coefficient points for both BVB and, crucially, the Bundesliga.

This is so important at this juncture because the top two performing nations will earn a fifth Champions League spot next season. Italy is bound to be one of these countries, with Germany and England squabbling over the second spot.

Sancho could prove decisive in this arm wrestle.

While Man Utd’s chances of finishing fifth are slim – they would need to go on a run not seen since the days of Sir Alex Ferguson – but there is simply no hope of them finishing in the top four.

Ten Hag’s decision to loan out Sancho to Dortmund has not only deprived Man Utd of a player who might reasonably have helped them challenge higher up the Premier League but is helping the Bundesliga deprive England of that precious fifth Champions League spot.