Manchester City did a big favour to Manchester United as they demolished Watford to lift the FA Cup.
A Raheem Sterling hat-trick propelled the Sky Blues towards the domestic treble as Pep Guardiola’s men maintained their domination in the domestic front. City’s FA Cup triumph showed they clearly do have an edge over their City rivals but United would rather take it on a lighter note for one reason.
The cup winner generally gets a place in the Europa League. Had Watford managed to lay their hands on the FA Cup the Red Devils would have had to come through the qualifying stage which would be embarrassing for them.
United are due to play a number of pre-season friendly as part of their International Champions Cup schedule. They set to take on Tottenham Hotspur on 25th July and would have been forced to cancel their trip to China as they would have to play their second qualifying round.
But with City’s win over the Hornets, the Red Devils now are assured of a guaranteed place in the main round of the Europa League and Wolves will be the other team participating in the qualifying stage.
