LVG longs for old European Cup format

LOUIS VAN GAAL stands by his belief that the Champions League should be exclusively for champions, even if that means shutting Manchester United out of the competition. At the end of a week in which the prospect of big clubs forming a continental Super League was raised again, the United manager backed a return to the old European Cup format. His comments may surprise Old Trafford’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, not least because the he blamed the ‘rubbish’ changes on commercial influences. Van Gaal, who won the Champions League with Ajax under the old system in 1995, said: ‘Sport is to be the best. When the Champions League was changing I said it was rubbish because the first and second and third and fourth teams are also playing. ‘When you have a competition it has to be between the champions. I said it 20 years ago and I say it now. It is only commercial thinking. When you are thinking like a commercial dealer then of course (the changes) are right, but sport is to win, not to be second or third.’ United will have to rely on a top-four finish or winning the Europa League to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Four straight wins, including two in the Premier League, have revived their hopes and lifted the pressure on Van Gaal (above) ahead of tomorrow’s visit to West Brom. The run has coincided with the spectacular emergence of Marcus Rashford, who has scored four goals in three games. And although Van Gaal did not dismiss the idea that his 18-yearold striker could be a shock contender for Roy Hodgson’s England squad for Euro 2016, he bristled at suggestions that Rashford may have saved his job. ‘Now I have read that Rashford is saving me. No, Rashford is thanks to my policy, and the club, of course. He is there because of that. And the same thing for (Cameron) Borthwick-Jackson, (Guillermo) Varela and a lot of other players.’