Man United dealt worrying Champions League blow by Chelsea and Man City collapses

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Manchester United could be left ruing poor performances from English clubs the most, as England's UEFA coefficient lead becomes shakier

The biggest casualties from the mid-week Champions League fixtures may not have been Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool or even Tottenham after all. Instead, it could turn out to be Manchester United who are left lamenting the subpar performances of English clubs the most.

Liverpool kicked things off with a disastrous display in a 1-0 defeat against Galatasaray, whilst Igor Tudor's Tottenham hit new lows in their 5-2 loss to Atletico Madrid. Chelsea also fell to a 5-2 loss away to Paris Saint-Germain, while a defensive catastrophe saw City concede three without reply away to Real Madrid.

Across six matches involving English teams, not one managed to secure a win. In the other games that didn't result in losses, Newcastle battled bravely to a draw with Barcelona, whilst Arsenal laboured to a 1-1 stalemate with Bayer Leverkusen.

Based on this week's performances, there's a very real possibility that no English sides will remain in Europe's top competition by this time next week. If that does indeed happen, it may well spell disaster for United.

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That's because United would have been counting on their Premier League counterparts advancing deep into the Champions League as a safety net, should they finish beyond the immediate four qualification places. England had been leading the UEFA coefficient table going into the knockout rounds, largely thanks to nine clubs navigating the league phase and reaching the last-16 across the Champions, Europa and Conference League.

However, if as many as four clubs - spanning all three competitions - are eliminated next week, it could deliver a significant setback, with the Italian, Spanish and German leagues hovering just behind. As things stand following Wednesday's fixtures, the rankings read:.

1) England - 22.513

2) Spain - 18.031

3) Germany - 18.000

4) Italy - 17.357

5) Portugal - 16.600

The positive news for United is that the top two nations will receive an additional Champions League place, meaning it would most likely require a late push from the German or Italian sides to dislodge England from the top two. The concerning news is that what appeared to be a previously commanding position at the summit of the table is somewhat more precarious for the English clubs at present.

It increases the pressure to finish within the top four, as they don't want to be depending on circumstances beyond their control to secure their return to the Champions League. Three points presently separate United in third from Chelsea in fifth, suggesting it's likely to be a close contest right to the finish.