Manchester United manager, Louis van Gaal, says his team must beat Manchester City away at the Etihad on Sunday evening to stand any chance of qualifying for the Champions League next season.
United were knocked out of the Europa League by Liverpool and will face Manchester City, who are four points ahead of them in the Premier League log.
"We have to beat City because that is the other chance to qualify for the Champions League," said Van Gaal. "The expectations are always high. We know that and we can cope with that," Van Gaal said at his Friday's press conference.
"We have to cope with the busy schedules. We have to recover again after Thursday's match. The players have given everything – more than everything, I think – but still we have to play against Manchester City, which is a more important game now because it’s about qualification for the Champions League.
"And they have one [recovery] day more but that was also the case against Arsenal and we beat them, so we have to believe in it. We can do it but it’s our fifth or sixth game in two weeks.
"I am not angry, I am not frustrated," Van Gaal said in the wake of Thursday night's defeat to Jurgen Klopp's team.
"We have created a lot of chances but they scored the away goal. That was the difference. I hope City on Sunday will be the catalyst. We shall do everything that we did against Liverpool (vs Man City)," the Dutchman stressed.
Defeat against Manchester City would leave United seven points adrift of fourth with eight to play.
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