Manchester United and Tottenham are just one step away from securing a spot in the Europa League knockout stages. Will they make the cut?
(The Post News)- With nine spots in the knockout stages up for grabs, Manchester United and Tottenham are two of the teams hoping to guarantee direct passage to the Europa League last 16 in Thursday’s league phase finale. Despite finishing in the bottom half of the Premier League standings, the faltering English powerhouses are among the top eight in the Europa League.
Only the top eight teams go automatically to the round of 16, while those in ninth through 24th must face the challenges of a two-leg playoff round the following month. After a tumultuous first two months in charge, United manager Ruben Amorim is yearning for two free midweek days so he can spend more time on the training field and try to implant his ideas.
Since Amorim took over as manager, the Red Devils have played 17 games in 64 days. With four straight victories, United has found it considerably easier to navigate Europe’s second-tier competition than its domestic obligations; they only need to avoid losing to FCSB by more than one point. However, if the Romanian champions achieve a historic triumph, they may also guarantee a top-eight position.
Florin Tanase, a striker for FCSB, stated, “We have to surpass ourselves, but we have done this before many times, so we will do it again.”
Following a terrible run of six Premier League losses in seven games that sent Tottenham into a relegation struggle, Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou is just hanging on to his job. Their struggles have been mostly caused by an increasing injury list, and their victory over Elfsborg in north London may afford Postecoglou some time to bring back some of his best players for the March round of 16.
Toppers for the Tables
The only team with a confirmed spot in the round of 16 is Lazio. At least a spot in the play-off round is guaranteed to Anderlecht, Athletic Bilbao, Eintracht Frankfurt, Galatasaray, Lyon, United, Tottenham, FCSB, AZ Alkmaar, Bodo/Glimt, Olympiacos, Rangers, Union Saint-Gilloise, and Viktoria Plzen.
Big stars, nevertheless, run the risk of losing before the knockout stages. Ahead of their matchup with Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv, which will take place in Belgrade because of the Middle East war, two-time European champions Porto are not among the top 24. With a difficult matchup against second-place Frankfurt and a 21st-place standing in the standings, Italian powerhouse Roma are also in jeopardy.
Three straight losses have put Ajax in danger ahead of the four-time European champions’ matchup with Galatasaray in Amsterdam, despite the team’s strong start to the campaign.
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