Juan Mata has claimed that Manchester United should "always" be competing in the Champions League.

Louis van Gaal's side failed to progress through the group stages of the 2015-16 campaign and dropped into the Europa League as a result.

With 10 games left to play in the Premier League, United are fifth in the standings on level points with fourth-placed Manchester City.

Should they fail to end the season in the first four places, then United could still qualify for the Champions League by winning the second-tier European competition.

"[Champions League] is where I think Manchester United should always be," Mata told Sky Sports News. "And now we have two ways to be there - one is through the Premier League and the other is through the Europa League, where we are going through stages and facing a big club like Liverpool.

"We'll try until the end of the season to get this club where it deserves to be and that is in the Champions League. Obviously we need to win almost every game to do that until the end of the season."

United will take on West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns in the league on Sunday.