Bruno Fernandes concedes Man Utd face 'hard' task to qualify for Champions League after Man City derby loss

Bruno Fernandes admits it is "going to be hard" for Manchester United to reach the top four after suffering an 11th EPL loss of the season.

An unbeaten start to 2024 came to an abrupt halt at home to Fulham last weekend and, having edged past Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup, was compounded by another league defeat on Sunday afternoon in the derby against Manchester City. Marcus Rashford gave United a shock lead at the Etihad Stadium, only for Phil Foden's brace and a stoppage-time Erling Haaland strike to seal Pep Guardiola and City a 3-1 derby win.

"Obviously we're disappointed," Fernandes said after the defeat. "We could have got something from the game. I think the effort from the team was there. Everyone tried really hard to get the result, but it wasn't possible.

"I said at half-time I felt that the team was doing everything we could to defend our box. We know that at moments we had to defend deep and be together and be compact and help each other. We did it but obviously I think today the difference was the individual quality from the players of City that made them win this game."

United currently trail league leaders Liverpool by a whopping 19 points while they also face a real battle to secure a spot in the Champions League for next season. The Red Devils occupy sixth spot in the league standings at present with Aston Villa, sitting fourth, 11 points better off and Ange Postecoglou and his Tottenham side fifth and six points ahead, with a game in hand to play.

Speaking to MUTV, Fernandes continued: "We need to look forward. We don't depend only on ourselves to get in the positions we want. We're not hiding from that. We don't depend only on ourselves to get in the positions we want. We're not hiding from that. We want