In the English Premier League standings, one team sits in 14th place and the other in 16th. Had the bottom three teams not played even worse football, these two clubs might have been facing relegation threats.

Despite their poor performances in the league, these two teams are showing a very different side on the European stage. In the UEFA Europa League, Europe’s second-most prestigious club competition, they have made significant progress toward the final. The teams in question? Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

Manchester United, currently 14th in the Premier League, defeated Athletic Bilbao 3–0 in the first leg of the Europa League semifinals. Meanwhile, Tottenham, sitting 16th, beat Norwegian club Bodø/Glimt 3–1. With both English clubs making strong statements in their respective semifinals, an "All-English" final on May 22 at Bilbao's San Mamés Stadium is looking more likely.

United faced Bilbao at San Mamés in the first leg last night. The match was practically decided in the first half as United went up 3–0 by halftime. Casemiro opened the scoring in the 30th minute. Just five minutes later, Bilbao's Dani Vivian was shown a red card for fouling United striker Rasmus Højlund in the box. Bruno Fernandes converted the resulting penalty to make it 2–0. Fernandes then scored again in the 45th minute to give United a commanding 3–0 lead going into the break. Bilbao tried to fight back in the second half but couldn’t reduce the deficit and had to settle for a heavy defeat. The return leg will be played on May 8 at Old Trafford.

Despite the big win, United’s coach Rúben Amorim isn’t taking anything for granted. Sending a message to his players, he said, "I think they should now focus on the return leg. More than the whole match, they need to think about the first 20 minutes. With no away goal rule, anything can happen."

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou was pleased with his team’s 3–1 home win. “I think the players were outstanding. Our performance was exactly what we needed,” he said. Brennan Johnson gave Spurs the lead in the very first minute. James Maddison added a second in the 34th minute, and Dominic Solanke scored the third in the 61st. Bodø/Glimt managed a late consolation goal through Ulrik Saltnes.