Yeah, watch out. The game engine seems extremely messed up when it comes to elimination rounds in cups to the point it's ridiculous. I got eliminated in the cup after losing 4-0 in the first leg to a by far inferior team. Just lost my second leg in the champions league to a team without an attending manager and that was 30 % lower quality than mine and I had 5 fans. Fortunately I made it on aggregate after scoring in the 89th minute.
Seriously, if this is how it's going to be, I might just stop trying to increase the quality of my team next season.
I'm beating far more experienced managers and teams in the association games on weekends. But come cup games, I'm scared to death as I'm getting smacked by inferior teams without attending managers.