How did I know

[Tactician]

Both managers were inactive, in my case due to work commitments.
I had 62% procession, more corners and more shots than the other team and still I didn`t get through

This has been happening enough to say that it is no longer a coincidence. In some cases, teams having much better match statistics did not seem to be able to get the goals required to go through in knock-out rounds. In some matches, you can completely dominate the opponent in terms of match statistics, and yet your team will be knocked-out. In some of those matches, something definitely appears to be fishy, as if the final outcome of the round concerned (2 matches) or the outcome of one particular match has already been decided before the match has been 'played'. In many of those cases, it seems that no matter what you will do during the match, you will not get the desired or required result. In some cases, especially when you have used the best counter tactics, you might score a lot of goals, and yet the opponent will reply back easily with more goals so that the planned final outcome is respected.