Ajax have already guaranteed Champions League football - what happens if Man United finish runners up to them in the Europa League
Winners of the FA Cup and League Cup qualify for the Europa League next season.
Until recently, if the winners of those competitions had already qualified for European football, the prize would be passed down to the runners-up.
This has now changed.
But is it the same in the Europa League? If the competition winners have already qualified for top tier European football through their league, does this mean the Champions League place is passed down to the runners up?
At the weekend, Ajax guaranteed Champions League (play-off) football for next season by securing at least second place with a 4-0 win over Go Ahead Eagles
With the club gaining a 4-1 first leg lead over Lyon last week, Peter Bosz's side have also put one foot into the final.
But here's the catch, just because Ajax have already qualified for the Champions League it doesn't mean - should they win the final - the runners up will gain a place.
If Manchester United were to make the final they would still need to win it to secure Champions League football.
So where does the extra Champions League place go?
Currently nowhere, because Ajax can no longer directly qualify through to the group stages of the Champions League through their league.
The Eredivisie lost its only automatic spot (formerly first place) in February.
If, for example, the team that won the Europa League had already qualified for the group stages of the Champions League in their domestic league (as well as the Champions League champions), the extra spot would go to association 13. Sounds secretive, but it's basically another way of saying the country in 13th place in the current coefficients rankings.
Ironically, that place is currently held by Netherlands. But the projected rankings show it will likely be Czech Republic in that spot.
That means the winners of the 1st League gain an automatic group stage place (instead of their previous play off place) - either Slavia Prague or Viktoria Plzen. But what happens to their qualification spot?
Basically every country is bumped up until the places are filled.
Confusing, right? Put simply, Manchester United still need to win the Europa League final in order to play Champions League football next season.
UEFA even got back to us. They say: "If the UEFA Europa League titleholder qualifies for the group stage through its domestic championship, this does not require any changes to the access list."
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