David De Gea endured a horror evening as Manchester United crashed to a humiliating three-goal defeat against Sevilla as they were dumped out of the Europa League.
Youssef En-Nesyri scored either side of Loic Bade’s header as the competition’s six-time winners ran riot against an abject United. Yet the real story of the night was De Gea, who made costly errors that led to each of the home side’s three goals.
United blew their early two-goal lead from the first leg to concede two late own goals which were in part hugely unfortunate, but also indicative of defensive vulnerability. That was exposed brutally in Seville in the return leg as United crashed out of the competition.
Here are five talking points from a humbling night for the Red Devils.
Ten Hag shown he must be ruthless
Manchester United were without a spate of key players for this match: Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane, Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes, while Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford were not fit enough to start. Yet several of their replacements wilted – and showed Erik ten Hag that they should not form part of his long-term plans.
David De Gea suffered a horror show – the club are currently locked in negotiations over a new contract but they must pursue a permanent replacement if they are to be serious about challenging for major honours.
The same is true for error-strewn club captain Harry Maguire, who once again demonstrated why he is not at the level that United demand. The anonymous attacking performances of Jadon Sancho and Anthony Martial – again, a long-term pattern continuing tonight – indicate that the club should move to cash-in this summer.
United enjoyed a tremendous summer transfer window last summer not just in terms of the incomings but those who left the club. That ruthlessness must be repeated this summer.
De Gea's embarrassing errors
There can be no justification from a Manchester United point of view for conceding the opening goal in the nature they did. De Gea played a central pass to Maguire, who was isolated and surrounded by three incoming Sevilla attackers.
Maguire was swiftly robbed of the ball and Sevilla gobbled up the chance. It was a horror moment for United and while the immediate error came from Maguire, he should never have received the pass from his goalkeeper – whose decision-making left a lot to be desired.
It was a similar moment to United’s four-goal humiliation at Brentford in August, when De Gea played a central ball to Christian Eriksen despite him being surrounded by three incoming attackers – when he was immediately and predictably robbed of the ball, with a goal coming.
The Spaniard’s dreadful evening was compounded by his basic error for Sevilla’s second and third of the night.
De Gea’s distribution has increasingly become a major issue for United and, like Maguire, there is little surprise that there may be a new number one at the club next season.
Martial the invisible man
Anthony Martial limped off early in the second half as his familiar fitness issues returned but viewers could have been forgiven for assuming the Frenchman was not on the pitch. The striker was entirely anonymous, despite dropping deep and attempting to get involved in the play – he made next to no impact.
That this was against Sevilla also provided an irony – Martial spent the second half of last season on loan at the Andalusian club, but made next to impact, scoring just once and swiftly being frozen out of the starting line-up.
United desperately need to sign a starting number nine this summer, but this was the latest indication that they also need to sign a secondary forward – to replace Martial in the squad. Patience with his form and fitness must surely be running out.
No Fernandes, no party
Bruno Fernandes has played more minutes than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues this season but was suspended for this clash. He was deeply unfortunate, receiving a yellow card in the first leg for an anonymous, accidental handball.
United always have Fernandes dictating the play, showing relentless energy and often providing the killer ball – all qualities which were absent in this clash. Fernandes is United’s best player, and their most important. He is irreplaceable and his true value is only properly shown when he is absent.
Spanish pain again
Since winning the Europa League in 2017, Manchester United have crashed out of Europe in every single season since to Spanish opposition: Sevilla, Barcelona, Sevilla, Villarreal, Atletico Madrid.
That speaks somewhat to United’s struggles against La Liga teams, but also how regularly they play them. Including group stages and knockout ties, United have been paired against a Spanish side in seven successive European draws – stretching back to the Europa League final against Villarreal two seasons ago.
Sevilla may be languishing in the bottom half of La Liga this season – despite United’s success over Barcelona and Betis this season, this was always going to be a big challenge.
