Manchester United and Manchester City crashed out of the Europa League football on Thursday, as the English Premier League was muscled into the shadows by Spain, which boasts three teams in the quarterfinals.
United was beaten 2-1 by Athletic Bilbao, the Spanish side reaching its first European quarterfinal for 35 years after a 5-3 aggregate victory.
City, meanwhile, battled back from 2-0 down on the night, and 3-0 in arrears on aggregate, to Sporting Lisbon to win its last 16 second-leg match 3-2, but the Portuguese side went through on the away goals rule.
The results:At Bilbao: Athletic Bilbao 2 (Llorente 23, de Marcos 65) bt Manchester United 1 (Rooney 80) (Athletic Bilbao wins 5-3 on aggregate). At Manchester: Manchester City 3 (Aguero 60, 82, Balotelli 75-pen) bt Sporting Lisbon 2 (Fernandez 33, van Wolfswinkel 40) (3-3 on aggregate; Lisbon wins on away goals).
