Manchester United should focus on winning the Europa League this season, which would bring the club a trophy it has never won and secure qualification for next season's Champions League, former manager Alex Ferguson has said.
United is fifth in the English Premier League and sits four points behind fourth-placed Liverpool, though it has two games in hand on the Merseyside club.
A top-four finish would ensure Champions League qualification but Ferguson, who was in charge at Old Trafford for some 27 years, believes United has a great opportunity to qualify by winning Europe's second-tier club competition.
"The thing is, we've never won the Europa League," he told ESPN. "We've never won UEFA Cup, what it used to be. And we've got a great draw. I'm not saying it's a certainty, but they've got a great chance.
"It's still a European trophy. And if you win it, you get into the Champions League. The incentive is greater to do that."
English clubs have failed to win a European title since Chelsea's Champions League win in 2012.
Ferguson said success on the European front is cyclical.
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