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Louis van Gaal: Man City derby a 'must win' game after Liverpool heartbreak
MANCHESTER UNITED manager Louis van Gaal insists the impending derby against Manchester City could provide just the catalyst his side needs to prevent their season being over.
Louis van Gaal says Manchester City game is a must win
A 1-1 draw at home to Liverpool was not enough to prevent a Europa League last-16 exit on an aggregate score of 3-1 to leave the Red Devils fighting against the odds to qualify for the Champions League.
United trail Manuel Pellegrini's City by four points and Van Gaal insists the Etihad clash on Sunday is a must win in their bid to achieve a top-four spot.
"I hope City is the catalyst," the Dutchman said. "We have to beat City and we have a chance to still qualify (for Champions League).
"There is always pressure. Expectations are very high so pressure for these players is always very high. We can cope with that but we were not lucky (against Liverpool).
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"We had to recover from the West Ham game (last Sunday) and Liverpool had a week free and you could see that in the last 15 minutes and now we have the same against City.
"But we keep our confidence because Arsenal had the same benefit three weeks ago and we beat them also (3-2)."
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