People forget how quickly stories fall apart when tournament football starts to twisting. Speaking about surprises, though, we need to separate "emotionally unexpected" from "statistically improbable". If you only look at the EPL table, Tottenham reaching the final could seem crazy; yet, their Europa League performance? In the whole knockout process, 9 wins, only 2 losses, and only 3 goals conceded
Manchester United has been scoring 35 goals in 14 games but has been conceding 18. Yes, Bruno has been crucial with 7 goals, but they have also survived Onana's 9 mistakes this season. They have lived off late goals and impact subs (Mount vs. Athletic, Mainoo vs. Lyon)
The thing that makes United strong is also their biggest weakness: they are hard to predict. Spurs might simply be boringly solid, their route to a victory. If there's a surprise, it might be that the "chaotic" loser doesn't win this time
No point to talk about Spurs position in EPL. They're at 17th, but their opponent is also at 16th. So, what's the difference? Both teams played shite in league, but differently in Europa League.
Honestly, i more often saw a surprise came from MU instead of Spurs. This reminds me when they still won trophies on their shite seasons. This kinda the same with that moment.
I'm still rooting at MU, though they clearly had bad h2h against Tottenham in the league. It's de javu to the time when they win FA against City, after they being hardly unfavored.