Sevilla 3, Manchester United 0 (UEFA Europa League, Sevilla win 5-2 on aggregate)
Manchester United were dumped out of the Europa League after goals by Youssef En-Nesyri and Loic Bade sent Sevilla through.
Without Bruno Fernandes, with Anthony Martial having an off night and recently injured Marcus Rashford forced to come off the bench the toothless Reds never looked like scoring the goals they needed in the quarter final against the six-time winners.
And Sevilla – a lowly 13th in La Liga – so often the vanquishers of United in European competition, did what fellow Spanish sides Real Betis and Barcelona were unable to do thanks two giftwrapped goals scored by Youssef En-Nesyri either side of a poorly defended Loic Bade set piece header.
Embed from Getty ImagesErik Ten Hag admitted his side were not ready to handle the aggressive front footed approach of Sevilla tonight.
He said: “When you make such mistakes it’s very difficult to win a football game.
“These type of performances are a problem.
“We have to do better. We were not composed or calm.
“It was so obvious what we had to do when we got control of the ball.
“We lost the battles, they had more desire.
“We can’t run away from this but the players have the chance to perform on Sunday [in the FA Cup semi final against Brighton].”
“When you play for Manchester United you have to be ready for every game. This was a great chance to win something and we gave it away, we have to blame ourselves.”
The Reds made just one change from the side that thrashed Nottingham Forest on Sunday with fit-again Marcel Sabitzer replacing the suspended Bruno Fernandes. Marcus Rashford was on the bench after a groin injury.
But United were behind after just eight minutes following an error by Harry Maguire who found himself surrounded by three Sevilla players after David De Gea decided to play out from the back to him, Maguire panicked as he was closed down and his pass was charged down by Erik Lamela.
Youssef En-Nesyri capitalised on the loose ball and drilled it past David De Gea as the Reds got off to the worst possible start.
It took a while for United to get into the flow of the game, and they had to battle as hard to get close to the home side.
A nervous De Gea jumped on ball after Diogo Dalot tried to put off Lucas Ocampos as he went for a ball into the box.
But the home side were rocked by a hamstring injury to Marcao who had to be replaced by Suso.
United were unable to capitalise on the disruption and Suso tried to claim a handball from Victor Lindelof before Ocampos rapped home a second for the home side after a cross from the left by Marcos Acuna after 41 minutes following a loose pass by Casemiro.
Things looked desperate for United until VAR ruled that the left back was offside in the build up.
United looked for a penalty after ex-City midfielder Fernando tackled Jadon Sancho – the referee waved the claims away.
En-Nesyri and Rakitic saw efforts blocked as Sevilla finished strongly with United looking every bit like the side that shipped two goals in the second half at Old Trafford against the Spanish side last week.
With the tie in the balance, Rashford and Luke Shaw were called from the bench at the break to replace Jadon Sancho and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
But within 80 seconds of the restart Sevilla were 2-0 up thanks to a Rakitic corner that went off the shoulder of Loic Bade and looped in slow motion inside the back post beyond the reach of the hapless De Gea and the static United defence.
The Reds were shell shocked and it was a miracle that they didn’t concede again after 52 minutes when they again couldn’t deal with a Rakitic corner – a multitude of last ditch blocks rescued saved them from further embarrassment.
The struggling Anthony Martial was replaced by Wout Weghorst after 54 minutes with Fred replacing Sabitzer after 68 minutes.
But the Reds simply continued to wilt against the home side who were cheered on by the vociferous home crowd.
Ericsen’s free kick went wide while Sevilla kept pushing for a killer goal – Rakitic’s ball across the area was begging for a finish but nobody was near it.
And it was game over after 81 minutes when De Gea raced out of his area to try and get to the a ball forward before En-Nesyri but made a mess of his clearance allowing the Sevilla forward to notch his 16th goal of the season – a chip into an empty net from 30 yards out.
Anthony Elanga replaced Eriksen with 4 minutes to go and he at least forced Yassine Bouno to make a save but the lasting damage had already been done.