5 talking points as Manchester United embarrassingly crash out of Europa League

Manchester United leave Spain with their tails between their legs as they lose 3-0 to Sevilla in Spain in the Europa League quarter-final.

After a 2-2 draw against Sevilla at Old Trafford seven days ago, Manchester United put in an embarrassing performance as they conceded two sloppy goals to exit the Europa League at the quarter-final stage with a 3-0 loss against Sevilla.

Goals from Youssef En-Nesyri and Loic Bade at the beginning of each half saw Sevilla take complete control of the tie, finishing what they started with their comeback at Old Trafford. De Gea further gifted En-Nesyri with a second of the night after his second mistake of the evening handed the striker an open net.

Here are five talking points from the result:

#1 – Maguire and De Gea make three mistakes in three seconds

Sevilla’s opening goal was one completely designed, created, and inflicted by David de Gea and Harry Maguire.

With Maguire surrounded by three Sevilla attacking players around the D of the penalty area, he demanded the ball from De Gea and did not scan his surroundings, which was mistake No. 1. Mistake No. 2 was the Spanish goalkeeper deciding that Magire’s call for the pass was viable.

De Gea should have noticed that Maguire was surrounded and instead passed the ball out wide. Mistake No. 3 was Maguire’s pass – once he was in possession of the ball, the pass he decided to make was a risky and unjustified one… although it could be argued that by the time he received the ball back, his fate had been sealed.

Yes, it’s easy to talk about that goal in hindsight, but it really was a calamitous sequence of errors that Ten Hag will no doubt be heavily disappointed with.

De Gea also made a second error with 10 minutes to go, gifting the ball straight to Youssef En-Nesyri to score his second of the game into an open net.

#2 – No one can replace Bruno Fernandes

When comparing the performances of Manchester United against Nottingham Forest on Sunday and away against Sevilla, the difference is staggering in the middle and final third.

With no Bruno Fernandes in midfield, it looked like there was a man missing in the middle. Antony was carrying United’s attacking progress down the right, but a lack of dictation in the middle of the pitch from Fernandes really hampered United’s efforts in the 90 minutes.

It meant Anthony Martial had to drop deep more often than he needed to in order to get possession of the ball, and also resulted in United losing a significant amount of passing range and attacking flexibility heading into Sevilla’s third of the pitch.

Without Fernandes, too, United lost a key leader on the field. With the Portuguese Magnifico often placed directly in the centre of all play, it was able to talk to almost the whole squad constantly – without him there, the side missed that.

#3 – United were creators of their own downfall

Conceding early in both halves has become a slight theme at times for United – it happened earlier this year against Leeds United, too.

United’s inability to grab a game from start to end has been on show on many occasions this season, with lapses in concentration being a constant problem during United’s results this season.

From individual errors to systematic failures, Manchester United – and especially the defensive line – could not deal with the duality of Sevilla’s high press and their tall front line, failing to win first and second balls as well as beat the Spanish press.

#4 – Ten Hag’s substitutions turn up dry

So often this season, Manchester United’s results have been turned around by nigh-perfect substitutions from Erik ten Hag.

On numerous occasions this season, United have had fixtures completely turned on their heads with players such as Antony, Alejandro Garnacho, and Marcus Rashford scoring in decisive moments to break deadlocks and secure United victory.

Against Sevilla, however, this story did not have a part to play in the tie. Despite the introduction of Luke Shaw and Rashford at half-time, the momentum and direction of the tie did not flinch for a second.

Sevilla continued to dominate from minute one to minute ninety, with United looking lost, disjointed, and lacking in heart. Despite further introductions of Wout Weghorst and Fred, it continued to make no difference and Sevilla had smooth sailing into the semi-finals of the competition.

#5 – United lost to themselves, not Sevilla

Four of Sevilla’s five goals against Manchester United were complete gifts.

Two own goals, two mistakes, and a sloppy goal from a corner were what gave Sevilla their ticket to the semi-final, and the complete implosion across the two matches from Manchester United’s players resulted, quite rightly, in their exit.

With an FA Cup semi-final against Brighton on Sunday, they need to pick themselves up and shake this off as soon as they can.