Manchester United booked their place in the Europa League last 16 with a 2-0 win at Romanian side FCSB, while troubled Tottenham turned to their young guns to advance via a top-eight finish on Thursday.
Diogo Dalot and Kobbie Mainoo scored for United in the second half of their final league phase fixture at the National Arena in Bucharest.
In north London, under-pressure Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou was relieved to see Dane Scarlett, Damola Ajayi and Mikey Moore kill off Swedish minnows Elfsborg with their first goals for the club in a 3-0 victory.
United, unbeaten in eight games in the tournament, finished in third place and Tottenham came fourth, ensuring the Premier League clubs both avoided the Europa League play-off round.
The top eight automatically progress to the last 16, where they will be seeded against the winners of eight two-leg knockout playoff ties featuring the clubs ranked from ninth 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.
But Mainoo's composed finish from Garnacho's cutback in the 68th minute put the result beyond doubt.
WWWWW.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 30, 2025
Ending the league phase unbeaten and with five #UEL wins in a row 💪#MUFC pic.twitter.com/gdTXBoEI0E
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.
1️⃣ Mikey Moore - 17y 172d
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) January 30, 2025
2️⃣ Jimmy Greaves - 17y 245d
Mikey is now the youngest English goalscorer in major European competition history 🤯 pic.twitter.com/88x88IraiH
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.
☑️ Confirmed. Top 8 in the @EuropaLeague League Phase.
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) January 30, 2025
👊 We'll see you back at Ibrox in the Round of 16.#UEL pic.twitter.com/sFNyHFV2Te
Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce scraped into the playoffs, 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 comprise the rest of the top eight.
Roma secured a playoff place, beating Frankfurt 2-0 through goals from Angelino and Eldor Shomurodov.
The UEFA Europa League group phase is complete ✅⚽
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) January 30, 2025
Lazio top the standings with Athletic Club, Man Utd and Spurs completing the top four 🔝#SSUEL | #UEL pic.twitter.com/vljCL9Vl92