It was "difficult" for Ralf Rangnick and his Manchester United players to watch Atletico Madrid's Champions League match against Barcelona in the middle of the week, according to him.

When Diego Simeone's team won 1-0 at Old Trafford, United had to give up their place in Europe. In the quarter-finals, Atletico faced Manchester City, who advanced after a punishing second leg against the Spanish champions.

Manchester United fans will have been reminded of their team's departure from this year's Champions League by seeing Atletico Madrid play this week. It will also have served as a reminder of what they will be missing out on during the upcoming season.

In the last week of the season, Liverpool's hopes of qualifying for next season's competition are hanging by a thread, with only six points separating them from the top four with seven games remaining. However, despite the fact that they still have a little chance, Rangnick is hoping to use the midweek action as inspiration to turn around their recent bad form when they face Norwich on Sunday.

In an interview with the club's official website, Rangnick stated that watching Atletico Madrid play against Manchester City is "difficult and hurtful."

There was no excuse for us not to have been there." The players do not need to watch the games on television in order to think and behave in that manner [in order to be driven to finish in the top four]. I believe that everyone understands that those are the moments for which you prepare and that playing in the Champions League is a goal for every player, especially at a club like Manchester United. It is our responsibility to ensure that this does not happen again."

"It's possible that it will happen mathematically," Rangnick continued, "but speculating about it will do us no good." Our success in our own games is the only thing we can control, and the only person we can influence is ourselves — our own performance and results. "We have to make certain that we begin to win games once more.' To date, we have one point from two games against Leicester and Everton, despite my prediction before the game against Leicester that we needed nine points from our next three contests. Consequently, there is no use in guessing as to whether or not this is feasible. We need to start winning games, and we need to achieve that on Saturday." Yes, mathematically speaking, it is still feasible.