Six English teams dey one step closer to go Champions League

Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur don make big moves towards reaching di Europa League final wit convincing semi-final first-leg wins on Thursday.

United win 3-0 for Athletic Bilbao, who go host di final on 21 May, while Tottenham see off Bodo/Glimt 3-1 for London.

Statisticians Opta give United a 97% chance of reaching di final - wit 91% for Spurs - e mean say di likelihood of both dem to reach final na 88%.

Dat go create just a sixth all-English final in any major European competition - half of dem involve Spurs.

E go also mean six English teams for next season Champions League.

A bi wey dey reason am to far?

Opta data dey give only a 12% chance say im no go be an all-English final.

United 3-0 win ova Athletic, wey dey fourth for La Liga, dey really impressive - and dem go hope home advantage next week mean say dem win di tie.

Spurs fit dey feel like say dem neva complete di job, especially wit fresh injury wahala wey surround James Maddison and Dominic Solanke.

Norwegian Arctic side Glimt win rate at home for Europa League since 2022-23 na 70%, compared to 9% for road - and dia key players dey return for second leg.

Man Utd v Spurs final go mean 'lowest-ranked winner' of Europa League

Manchester United and Tottenham unusually poor domestic seasons mean say if both teams reach di Europa League final next week and stay for dia current Premier League positions, di winner go be be di lowest-ranked domestic side to win di competition for di past 15 years.

Opta data show say since dem rebrand di Europa League for 2009-10, no team wey finish lower dan 12th don compete for final bifor or win am.

Sevilla (12th) bin win di tournament for 2023, while Fulham (12th) bin lose di final for 2010.

And dis na also di first season wit di new league phase formats for Europe – bifor now teams wey bin finish third for dia Champions League groups go drop to Europa League, in theory e make di competition harder to win.

Wen West Ham bin win di Conference League for 2023, dem bin finish 14th for Premier League dat same season.

Why England fit get a sixth Champions League place?

Di winners of di Europa League go qualify for next season Champions League, regardless of wia dem finish domestically.

So a United v Spurs final go guarantee dem a return to di mega-riches of European football top table.

Dat rule dey handy for United – wey dey14th - and Spurs – wey dey 16th - both of dem dey more dan 20 points behind fifth place.

Without winning di Europa League, neither of dem go dey any European competition next season.

E no get any knock-on effect on any oda English teams - wit di top five dey guaranteed a Champions League spot through di league.

Dat fifth spot come as a result of English clubs' performances for Europe dis season.

England fit win all di European trophies?

No kontri team don ever win di Champions League, Europa League and Conference League for di same season (although di latter dey only for im fourth year).

But e fit happun for England dis term - dia teams dey for all di semis.

Di smallest chance (12.1% Opta say) na for Arsenal, wey bin lose 1-0 for home to Paris St-Germain for di Champions League first leg on Tuesday.

For di Conference League, Chelsea don dey look like likely winners all season. Dem win 4-1 at Djurgarden for dia semi-final first leg.

Wetin Europe tok about di strength of Premier League?

E fit just be a snapshot in time - especially as e be say Arsenal fit comot for Champions League by Wednesday night.

But, alongside England four potential European finalists dis season, di Premier League fit get around nine or 10 clubs for Europe again next season, depending on permutations.

Tori pipo ask Liverpool head coach Arne Slot, about di strength of di Premier League on Friday, e say: "Di number 14 and 16 for Premier League get more funds pass di number one for Holland, for example.

"No be surprise say English teams dey go all di way into Europe, especially for Europa League and Conference League, because dem dey a different league wen e comes to money compared to oda teams.

"Di Champions League dey more balanced so na big achievement from Arsenal say dem still dey di semi-final.

"E tell you di kain money wey dis league get and how strong di league dey, but we all know dis. We no need dis season to know say di Premier League na by far di most competitive league for di world."

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire believe say English success for Europe dey closely connected to budgets.

Im say: "Premier League clubs in total generate twice as much money pass clubs for La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and probably about five times as much revenue as Ligue 1.

"Therefore no be surprise to see 'middle tier' clubs from England wey get higher budgets pass clubs dem dey compete against.

"Dem fit turn dis into success for European competitions sake of dia ability to recruit and retain some of di best talent for Europe wey no dey good enough to play for di truly elite clubs for Europe like PSG, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich."

Wetin be di oda all-English finals?

Di first Uefa Cup for 1971-72 na between Tottenham and Wolves for a two-leg final.

Spurs bin win di first leg 2-1 at Molineux, Martin Chivers score twice and draw 1-1 for White Hart Lane two weeks later.

E go take 36 years for di next all-English final, di 2007-08 Champions League as Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties for Moscow.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Frank Lampard trade goals bifor di penalty shootout wey dem remembered for John Terry miss afta im slip.

Two all-English finals happun for 2018-19.

Liverpool beat Tottenham 2-0 for Champions League for Madrid, with goals from Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi.

And Chelsea bin see off Arsenal 4-1 for Baku for Europa League, Eden Hazard score twice for im final game for di club.

Two years later Chelsea beat Manchester City 1-0 for di Champions League, Kai Havertz score di only goal for Porto.