Manchester United secured their spot in the Europa League last 16 with a 2-0 victory over Romanian side FCSB, while Tottenham, facing pressure, turned to their youth players to progress with a top-eight finish on Thursday.
Diogo Dalot and Kobbie Mainoo netted second-half goals for United in their final group-stage match at the National Arena in Bucharest.
In north London, Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou breathed a sigh of relief as Dane Scarlett, Damola Ajayi, and Mikey Moore each scored their first goals for the club in a 3-0 win over Swedish side Elfsborg.
United, unbeaten in their last eight Europa League games, finished third in their group, while Tottenham placed fourth, ensuring both Premier League clubs avoided the play-off round.
The top eight teams automatically advanced to the last 16, where they will face the winners of eight two-leg knockout ties between teams ranked 9th to 24th.
United boss Ruben Amorim had insisted it was “really important” to beat FCSB because missing the play-offs would allow him to rest key players.
Amorim’s side rose to his challenge, extending their recent improvement to one defeat in seven games in all competitions with a third successive victory.
United were patchy in the first half but at the break Amorim sent on Amad Diallo and Alejandro Garnacho, who nearly made an instant impact when he scampered clear and drilled a low shot against the far post.
Bruno Fernandes blasted a long-range drive off the bar before United finally took the lead in the 60th minute.
Diallo guided a dangerous low cross into the six-yard and Dalot timed his run to slot home with ease.
Daniel Birligea almost hauled FCSB level immediately with a thunderous strike that nearly crossed the line after hitting the bar.
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But Mainoo’s composed finish from Garnacho’s cutback in the 68th minute put the result beyond doubt.
– Spurs kids lift the gloom –
At the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, it took three of the club’s promising academy graduates to lift the gloom.
Tottenham are languishing in 15th place in the Premier League, eight points above the relegation zone after winning just one of their past 11 top-flight matches.
Last weekend’s defeat against fellow strugglers Leicester condemned Tottenham to their longest winless streak in the league since 2008.
Postecoglou admitted he is not sure of his job status after fans jeered the team and called for chairman Daniel Levy to quit during the Leicester debacle.
Tottenham lost centre-back Radu Dragusin to a knee problem as their injury woes mounted in the second half, but his replacement Scarlett ended Elfsborg’s resistance in the 70th minute.
Dejan Kulusevski’s cross picked out Scarlett and the 20-year-old striker headed home, just days after returning from a loan spell at second-tier Oxford.
Ajayi, 19, had only been on the pitch four minutes when he converted Scarlett’s pass to mark his debut in style in the 84th minute, and there was still time for Moore, 17, to strike in stoppage time.
Scottish side Rangers made it to the last 16 after climbing to eighth place with a 2-1 win against Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise at Ibrox.
Nicolas Raskin put Rangers in front with a 21st-minute header and Vaclav Cerny doubled the lead in the 55th minute before Kevin Mac Allister’s 83rd-minute reply set up a tense finale.
Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce scraped into the play-offs, finishing in 24th place — above Braga on goal difference — after a 2-2 draw at Midtjylland.
Lazio came top of the league phase despite a 1-0 defeat at Braga, while Athletic Bilbao beat Viktoria Plzen 3-1 to secure second place.
Fifth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, sixth-placed Lyon, and seventh-placed Olympiakos round out the top eight teams in the Europa League.
Roma secured a place in the play-offs with a 2-0 victory over Frankfurt, thanks to goals from Angelino and Eldor Shomurodov.