Manchester United suffered a 3-0 defeat against Sevilla, 5-2 on aggregate, at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan to exit from the quarterfinals of the Europa League. Two massive errors from Harry Maguire and David de Gea cost Red Devils a chance to move into the semifinals allowing Youssef En-Neysri to bag a brace and center-back Loic Bade to score from a corner. The record Europa League holders attempting to win a seventh title will now face Juventus in the last four of the competition. Meanwhile, Erik ten Hag’s men will get involved in the FA Cup semi final tie against Brighton and Hove Albion this Sunday straight after the defeat as the only trophy left to play in the season.
United went to Seville for the second leg after a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford which saw them lose a two-goal lead to two own goals late in the match enforced by the away side. Sevilla’s pressing game in a hostile atmosphere created by the home crowd caught the English side off guard. Maguire gave the ball away in a dangerous position having asked for the ball from his goalkeeper in the first place in a pressure situation. En-Neysri tucked home the chance with De Gea stranded and his team stunned. Lucas Ocampos worked his socks off for the entire game and found the back of the net after another giveaway this time from Casemiro in midfield. However, Marcos Acuna was adjudged to have been offside by VAR before putting the cross in for the winger to score.
Just when Manchester United thought they had escaped going further down in the tie, Bade rose high getting his shoulder rather than his head to Ivan Rakitic’s corner to loop his effort over De Gea into the net for the second only a minute after the restart. The tie was pretty much over by then but there was one more error to go for rubbing the salts on the wounds. This time United’s number one made a hash of clearing a long ball way out of his goal presenting it to the Moroccan international to find the empty net. The visitors did little to trouble Sevilla at the other end despite keeping more possession of the ball and not really troubling Yassine Bounou from three shots on target. Sevilla’s determination and United’s own downfall decided the tie on the evening.
No win in five
Manchester United have now faced Sevilla five times in European competition and haven’t won in any of the meetings, losing in four. It is the most against an opponent without winning in their European history. The only time they avoided defeat in this meeting was a goalless draw at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan itself in 2018. It was the first meeting between the sides in Europe in a Champions League Round of 16 tie.
High five
5 - Sevilla have reached the semi-final of the UEFA Europa League on more occasions than any other side (5). Indeed, they've gone on to lift the trophy on every previous occasion when they've made it to the semi-final stage (2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 & 2019-20). Sights. pic.twitter.com/ITLX6OhNL0
Sevilla have now reached the semifinals of the Europa League for the fifth time since the rebranding of the competition from the UEFA Cup in the 2009/10 season, more than any other team has managed. The side from La Liga have gone on to win the competition on each of the last four occasions they have reached the last four the last one being in the 2019/20 season.
Six in a row
6 - For a sixth successive season, Manchester United have been eliminated from a European knockout tie by Spanish opposition – with three of those coming against Sevilla (2017-18, 2019-20 & 2022-23). Adios. pic.twitter.com/lTHPtWt8Yf
For a sixth successive season, Manchester United have been eliminated from European competition by Spanish opposition. Three of those have come against Sevilla with two being a Europa League exit and one in the Champions League. The others are Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Villarreal whom they lost in 2020/21 Europa League final.
Five errors
With his missed clearance for En-Neysri’s second and Sevilla’s third goal of the game, David de Gea has committed more errors leading to a goal across all competition since last season than any other Premier League player with five.
