Manchester United are back in the Champions League but a bright future under Erik ten Hag remains clouded by uncertainty over the ownership of the English giants.

The punishment, followed swiftly by a 4-1 defeat by Empoli on Monday evening, leaves Italy's most successful soccer club in seventh place in Serie A, outside of the places for European competition qualification.

Fifth placed Liverpool's draw with Aston Villa on Saturday meant Newcastle needed just one point from their last two games to be assured of a Champions League place

Polish referee Szymon Marciniak, who officiated the World Cup final in December, will take charge of next month's Champions League final between Manchester City and Inter Milan, UEFA said on Monday.

With three games left, fourth-placed Real Sociedad moved on to 65 points and tightened their grip on the last Champions League qualification spot, five points ahead of fifth-placed Villarreal who beat Girona 2-1 earlier on Saturday

The Brazilian, in his final appearance at Anfield after eight seasons with the Merseyside club, scored in the 89th minute to the delight of the crowd in Liverpool's last home game of the season

The Spaniard has taken just 160 matches as a boss in the competition to reach the total, faster than previous record holder Carlo Ancelotti, who took 180 games to reach three figures

"From the start we expected them to press and not let us play our way out with the ball. They pushed a lot of players up to keep us in our box," Courtois said.

"I had the feeling we had one year of pain in our stomach. What happened last season, today went out," he said.

City, who were beaten by Real at the same stage last season, avenged that heartbreaking defeat with a brilliant performance in front of their jubilant fans, with only Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois preventing them inflicting even more damage

"It's a beautiful night for us. We knew it was going to be tough. But to beat this Madrid team 4-0 at home, it was wonderful," the Portuguese midfielder said.

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti believes the two best teams in Europe will go head-to-head for a place in the Champions League final on Wednesday when the Spanish giants visit Manchester City.

Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi said he had been impressed by every facet of his team's "extraordinary" journey to the Champions League final after they beat AC Milan 3-0 on aggregate on Tuesday.

A month ago, Inzaghi faced criticism and was under pressure after a lacklustre run of results, yet his side has turned it around and their 1-0 semi-final second leg win over Milan was their eighth in a row in all competitions

Inter will undoubtedly be the underdogs against either Real Madrid or Manchester City in Istanbul on June 10, but the way they managed both legs of this all-Milan tie suggests they will be hard to beat.

Pioli and his players had their heads bowed in remorse while Milan's hardcore ultras bellowed encouragement in the hope that their words might add something which was missing in the first leg. The Milan squad then headed to the dressing room as the Curva Sud chanted “we want 11 lions” in their native Italian.

Liverpool maintained their pursuit of Champions League football next season and pushed Leicester ever closer to the Championship as Curtis Jones scored twice in a 3-0 win at the King Power on Monday.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has backed striker Erling Haaland to rediscover his best form when they host Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final after the Norwegian failed to find the net at the Santiago Bernabeu.

City have won all 14 games at the Etihad this year by a combined score of 49-7 as Pep Guardiola's men close in on a potential treble of Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup

"We competed, we fought, I think we deserved to win. It was a good match and we head to the second leg with a good feeling. The result doesn't reward us for what we did on the pitch, but this tie will be close until the last minute," Ancelotti told Movistar Plus.