With four of the top six in FA Cup action over the weekend, the race for Champions League football was Manchester United’s to seize, and they did far more than that.

Having been sat in sixth and written off for a spot in the top four for the majority of the season, many had it that Jose Mourinho’s best chance of a seat at European football’s top table was via the kids’ table.

A spot in the Champions League is one of the prizes for the winners of it’s little brother, the Europa League in which United are semi-finalists. However, a quick glance at the Premier League standings after a 2-0 win at Burnley, who are famously hard to beat at Turf Moor this season, and things look very different.

United, although still fifth and outside that top four for now, are a point from fourth place and fierce rivals Manchester City, who they face on Thursday in what Pep Guardiola has described as a final in itself.

Looking further up, if you dare, and another rival in Liverpool lies in wait, three points ahead of Mourinho’s men, however, they are two games better off, meaning that should United take at least four points from their two games in hand, first against City and then the penultimate game of the season against Southampton, they can go third, something few would have envisaged just a few weeks ago.

However, with two key players in Marcos Rojo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic having been added to the lengthy injury list at Old Trafford in last week’s Europa League quarter-final with Anderlecht, Mourinho now has an even harder juggling act on his hands.

The win at Turf Moor though, brought plenty of positives for the former Inter Milan and Real Madrid boss. Having been outstanding in recent weeks, Marcus Rashford was given a rest and dropped to the bench whilst there was a goalscoring return for captain Wayne Rooney as well as winger Anthony Martial.

Rotation will be key for Mourinho over the coming month as they look to secure Champions League football for next season by any means possible. The target will be top four and the Europa League crown and nothing less, meaning there could well be a further nine games left of a long season, taking their total from the campaign to 64 matches in all competitions.

Aside from Ibrahimovic up top, goals are few and far between from the rest of Mourinho’s squad, meaning that seeing the likes of Rooney and Martial in goalscoring form at the weekend will have been a huge boost for the Portuguese.

Should the rest of his side follow suit and begin to chip in with a few goals here and there between now and the end of May, it could well be a successful end to the season for fans at Old Trafford.