More reaction and comment
Sid Lowe was at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán. His report is in. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night.
Erik ten Hag speaks to BT Sport. “It is clear … we made such mistakes that it is very difficult to win a football game … it can’t be … a defence should expect to deal with [the atmosphere] … we can do better, that is the demand … you have seen what I have seen … we were not composed, we were not calm … once you beat the press there are huge spaces all over the pitch … it was obvious but we did not do it … bad decisions … they had more passion, desire and willingness … it’s a problem, we can’t run away from it … Sunday we have another opportunity to work on that … we have to step up and show more personality … it is about the players who are on the pitch … they have to perform … I believe in them but today we were not good enough … we have showed on so many occasions good performances … tonight we were not ready and it cannot be … when you play for Manchester United you have to be ready for every game … it was a great opportunity to win something and we gave it away … we have to blame ourselves … we have to look forward for Sunday and the next opportunity.”
It was a pretty bad evening for Harry Maguire; it was a complete thundering nightmare for David de Gea. Both were implicated in Sevilla’s ludicrous opening goal; the preposterous third was all the keeper’s own work. Manchester United tumble out of Europe in slapstick style, and still haven’t beaten Sevilla, who are fast becoming a bogey side. “They couldn’t handle the aggression of a brilliant Sevilla team,” says BT Sport pundit Paul Scholes glumly. Sevilla were indeed as magnificent as United were poor, and given their famous Europa League smarts, are certain to give Juventus, who beat Sporting 2-1 on aggregate, a real game in the semis. United, having been properly worked over tonight, need to regroup and pick themselves up for the weekend’s FA Cup semi against Brighton.
FULL TIME: Sevilla 3-0 Manchester United (agg 5-2)
Sevilla waste the free kick, but it doesn’t matter. The whistle goes, and the six-time Europa League winners knock Manchester United out of Europe again.
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90 min +3: Shaw is booked for a late clip on Gil. Then Casemiro trips Rakitic just to the left of the United box. One last chance for Sevilla to embellish the score.
90 min +2: The Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán is in party mode. Cara Peterson is in reflective mood: “Maguire has been pretty dire tonight - around the 20th minute Casemiro throws his hands in frustration after questionable backpass to de Gea), bowled Sabitzer over during the second - choosing to keep a high line against a striker known for coming out of nowhere to score kind of ludicrous goals - but worst of all, it doesn’t seem as though any of United’s players trust him or want him to be there. I feel bad for him, but perhaps this summer will be a good time to find a better fit - for both Maguire and de Gea.”
90 min: Rashford is minded to go down swinging, and bursts into the Sevilla box down the left. He earns a corner off Gudelj. Antony swings it in, to little effect. There will be four more minutes of Manchester United’s Europa League campaign.
89 min: Rashford makes his way down the right only to blooter his cross out of play on the other side of the park. From the resulting throw, United snaffle the ball back, and Elanga chances his arm from 30 yards. He gets plenty behind it, but Bono smothers.
87 min: Rakitic tees up En-Nesyri on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. Shaw comes across to take the ball off his toe at the last moment. Corner coming up. Meanwhile Paul Romney takes one particular thread of this MBM to its logical conclusion: “Upamecanchester United?” Paul Romney, aka The Weaver.
86 min: Elanga comes on for Eriksen, who, not long back from injury, has been well off the pace tonight.
85 min: Telles comes on for Acuna. The Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán is bouncing, as you’d imagine. Their team have been as superb as United have been appalling.
83 min: “This is up there with the 7-0 against Liverpool,” wails an apoplectic Robbie Savage on BT Sport. “So bad.” It’s not a numerical thing, you understand: two own goals last week, followed by a couple of preposterous calamities this evening, tend to lead to capsule reviews like this.
GOAL! Sevilla 3-0 Manchester United (En-Nesyri 81); agg 5-2
If the first goal was farcical, this is an utter fiasco. Sevilla lump it long. De Gea races out of his box and sticks out his right leg. Is he trying to trap the ball? Hoof it back upfield? Goodness knows, but all he manages to do is squirt it a few feet to his right, setting up En-Nesyri to bundle the ball home from 35 yards. Dear oh dear.
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80 min: Lamela, who had gone down with cramp a couple of minutes earlier, is replaced by Gil.
79 min: From the right of the Sevilla D, Casemiro hits a weak diagonal shot that dribbles wide left. Antony and Weghorst, hanging around six yards out, were both on their heels.
78 min: Shaw is limping around. Not ideal given he’d probably be first choice to replace the suspended Maguire against Brighton in the FA Cup this weekend.
77 min: Dalot grinds down the right and wins a corner, from which Maguire clanks a header over the bar. “After the booking is Bono now living on the edge?” wonders Richard Hirst, because somebody had to.
75 min: Rakitic plays the corner short and gets the ball back. He sends Fred off to the shops before fizzing a low drive through the six-yard box. Any touch, from attacker or defender, and the ball’s pinging into the net. Somehow the ball makes its way through a thicket safely and out for a goal kick. United breathe again, but they need something to happen quick.
73 min: Fernando and Ocampos dictate play, 25 yards out. The ball’s shifted this way and that as they probe. Eventually Suso is sent scampering down the right. He wins a corner, which is worked back to Fernando, whose shot is deflected wide right. Another corner coming up.
73 min: Bono is booked for taking his sweet time over a free kick.
72 min: Eriksen whips over the wall and towards the top-left corner. The ball sails inches wide of the post. Not entirely sure Bono was getting there had it been on target.
71 min: Fernando clanks Fred to the floor, 25 yards out, just to the right of centre. A free kick and a chance to work Bono again.
70 min: A bit of possession for United in the middle of the park. All good and well, but the clock ticks on, and Sevilla hold their shape. No way through.
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68 min: Sabitzer makes way for Fred. His early two-goal salvo in the first leg seems an awfully long time ago now.
66 min: Suso shoots. Deflected. From the resulting corner, El-Nesyri is afforded a clear header, 12 yards out. He mistimes it. Factor in the chance he fluffed from a couple of yards and the big striker should have a couple of goals to his name. Sevilla should be out of sight.
64 min: A bit of space for Weghorst, 25 yards out. He takes one touch too many and while he eventually gets a shot away, he’s taken far too long and it’s easily blocked.
62 min: Casemiro makes a little space on the edge of the Sevilla D and belts a shot towards the top left. It’s an easy enough parry for Bono, who if nothing else has been put to work by United at last.
61 min: Shaw crosses deep from the left. Acuna deals with the danger at the far stick. Shaw’s looked pretty lively since coming on. “De Gea appears to be making sure there’s no contract extension this summer,” writes Matthew Lysaght. “I’d have gone with Upamaguire btw, rolls off the tongue easier.”
59 min: Antony is booked for a petulant kick out at Acuna. He sarcastically shakes the referee’s hand, which is bold, given some officials might have sent him packing.
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58 min: Weghorst, always a willing worker, makes a nuisance of himself down the right flank, but is eventually guided down a dead end. An awful lot of whistling when United have possession. It’s a cauldron all right. “United’s night has gone from Bade to worse.” Peter Oh, ladies and gentlemen. He’s here all week. Try the oranges.
57 min: Weghorst plays a cute ball down the inside-left channel for Rashford to chase. Rashford can’t get to it ahead of Navas, who shepherds the ball back to Bono. Neat play all round.
56 min: Casemiro picks up a yellow card for hanging out a leg to bring down Gudelj. Should United turn this around, he’ll serve his fourth suspension of the season in the first leg of the semi-final.
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54 min: No grand entrance for Weghorst, as Sevilla clear the corner easily enough. “My son is in Spain watching the game,” reports Michael Nash. He just said a Spanish commentator referred to Harry as Upamecamaguire.”
53 min: Shaw powers his way down the let and wins a corner. Before it can be taken, Weghorst replaces Martial, who has been struggling with a sore ankle.
51 min: Acuna comes in from the left and whips a shot towards the far corner. De Gea turns it around the post. From the resulting corner, a proper playground stramash in the six-yard box, as En-Nesyri tries to prod home from close distance, only for Shaw and De Gea to somehow block his effort. That’s some resolute last-ditch defending by United, but En-Nesyri should really have scored.
49 min: That ball sailed over De Gea at a glacial pace. A lucky loop from a Sevilla perspective, but you’d have expected the keeper to deal with it one way or another.
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GOAL! Sevilla 2-0 Manchester United (Bade 47); agg 4-2
Bade rises highest, six yards out. The ball pings off his left shoulder and loops over De Gea. Seemingly in slow motion, it sails towards the top left, pings off the underside of the bar, down and in. Not sure De Gea has covered himself in glory there either.
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46 min: Lamela wins the first corner of the second half off Eriksen. Rakitic loops it in from the right, and …
Sevilla get the second half underway. United have made two changes, replacing Wan-Bissaka and Sancho with Shaw and Rashford.
The winner of this tie will play either Sporting or Juventus in the semi-final. Their quarter-final is also still in the balance: after Juve’s 1-0 first-leg victory, it’s 1-1 at half-time in Lisbon tonight, Adrien Rabiot’s early goal cancelled out by a Marcus Edwards penalty midway through the half. Juve lead 2-1 on aggregate.
Half-time entertainment.
HALF TIME: Sevilla 1-0 Manchester United (agg 3-2)
The whistle goes, and United have the chance to regroup. Sevilla have been the better side by some distance, and the visitors are fortunate to have limited the damage to a single goal. They’ll need to improve drastically if they’re to reach the semi-finals. Time to call on Marcus Rashford?
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45 min +4: The corner’s worked back to Rakitic, who pearls a first-time shot towards the top left. It’s heading in, but Casemiro deflects with his shoulder. The next corner comes to nought.
45 min +3: Maguire wins a header, but no, no they can’t. Sevilla counter at speed, Ocampos jinking past Sancho and firing a low ball across the face of the United goal. At the far stick, Antony is forced to turn out for a corner.
45 min +2: Wan-Bissaka and Dalot swap flanks. Ocampos follows Dalot across. United attack. Casemiro shoots. Deflected. Corner. After being thoroughly outplayed, an inch away from going two down, they couldn’t, could they?
45 min +1: Suso’s wedge into the box is harmless and United clear the free kick. There will be four additional first-half minutes, incidentally.
45 min: Suso dances his way down the left and is downed by a pincer movement from Lindelof and Antony. A free kick just to the left of the United box.
43 min: Fernando executes a perfectly timed tackle on Sancho in his own box. No penalty, though United ask the question. On the counter, Suso crosses from the right. El-Nesyri prepares to nut home, only for Lindelof to eyebrow away from danger just in time. United really could do with hearing that half-time whistle.
NO GOAL! Sevilla 1-0 Manchester United (agg 3-2)
VAR saves Manchester United! Turns out Acuna was offside as he was played down the left wing. Roughly an inch in it, but offside is offside. United breathe again!
GOAL! Sevilla 2-0 Manchester United (Ocampos 40); agg 4-2
Casemiro ships possession cheaply. En-Nesyri slips Acuna into space down the left. Acuna cuts back for Ocampos, coming in from the right. Ocampos sets himself and lashes into the top right. Easy as that!
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39 min: Lamela slips Suso into the United box down the right. Suso has time to line up a curler towards the top left. He blasts straight at Lindelof and, out of embarrassment more than anything else, claims a penalty for handball. He’s not getting one. But it doesn’t really matter, because …
38 min: Lamela attempts to steer a sidefooted shot into the bottom right from the edge of the box. Easy for De Gea.
37 min: Rakitic and Lamela nearly open United up down the inside-right channel. Not quite. Sevilla come again, Acuna crossing from the left, Lindelof heading clear. United are already in Could Do With Half Time territory.
35 min: Antony glides down the right and swings in for Casemiro. He heads over the bar from ten yards. The cross just a little bit too high for Casemiro, who loves a header. Still, that’s as good as United have served up so far.
33 min: The pace of the match has dropped considerably. Probably good news for United, who have been second best so far.
31 min: United have enjoyed 54 percent of possession so far. They’ve yet to put Bono to work.
29 min: Marcao goes down feeling his hamstring. He eventually gets up and walks off in tears. Suso comes on in his place.
27 min: Gudelj crosses in the rabona style. Acuna heads down and nearly finds Ocampos, six yards out. De Gea gathers, just in time. Sevilla are enjoying themselves.
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25 min: Your verdicts on Maguire are in, and it doesn’t make pretty reading for the United captain. In ascending order of offensiveness: “Completely mindless” (Nigel Moore), “an idiot” (Richard J); “full Upamecano” (Matthew Lysaght); “a Todd Boehly kind of player” (Jeff Sax). Ow.
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23 min: Sancho dribbles in from the left and lays off to Antony, whose shot is blocked by his own man Sabitzer. The ball pings right to Wan-Bissaka, who dribbles a tame shot straight at Bono. Better from United.
21 min: “You can see Harry Maguire asking De Gea to pass him the ball,” reports Stephen Kruger. “He really is a liability.” And with perfect timing, the TV replays footage of Maguire doing exactly that. Oh Harry. Mind you, Robbie Savage isn’t for turning, still blaming De Gea for listening to his defender in the first place, with a view of the entire pitch in front of the keeper.
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19 min: Ocampos crosses from the right. Dalot is right next to him. The ball clips Dalot’s hand and out for a corner … but once again the referee and linesman do a number on the hosts. They get neither corner nor penalty (the latter would have been stupidly harsh due to proximity) and it’s just a goal kick. United hearts would have been in mouths for a second there.
17 min: A long pass down the middle causes more confusion between De Gea and Maguire. The former races out of his box intending to bash clear; the latter hooks away at the cost of a throw. Sevilla’s attack fizzles out after that, but United can’t keep on like this, or it won’t be long before another goal is served up on a plate.
16 min: Antony hares down the right and wins a free kick off Acuna, who handballed while attempting to stop the ball going out for a corner. Eriksen’s delivery doesn’t cause Sevilla any problems.
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15 min: Sevilla ping the ball around. Rakitic attempts to play Ocampos in down the inside-left, only to be clipped from behind by Wan-Bissaka. No need for that challenge, and this is a free kick in an extremely dangerous position … but United get away with it, Rakitic blootering witlessly into the wall.
14 min: On BT Sport, co-commentator Robbie Savage is apportioning most of the blame for the goal to De Gea. “In what world do you play out to your centre half, whose body position is all wrong, surrounded by players?” Wan-Bissaka out wide was the better option, he suggests. It’s hard to argue.
12 min: Rakitic channels his inner David Beckham, pinging a ball from halfway over De Gea’s head and into the net. But it won’t count. The whistle had already gone, Antony having been stripped of possession too forcefully. United, however, suddenly look all over the shop.
10 min: No idea why De Gea made that dangerous pass up the middle. Maguire was instantly put on the spot, and came up short alarmingly by miscontrolling. A complete fiasco. Such a cool finish by En-Nesyri, though.
GOAL! Sevilla 1-0 Manchester United (En-Nesyri 8); agg 3-2
United hit a bum note here all right. De Gea plays out to Maguire, who is swiftly surrounded by Lamela and En-Nesyri. The former blocks, the latter picks up the rebound, opens his body, and slots into the bottom left. Simple as that. What a calamitous error by both keeper and centre-back.
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7 min: United press Sevilla back, but the home side hold a firm shape. Antony tries to switch play from right to left, but his raking pass evades Sancho and sails into the stand. Here’s Justin Kavanagh: “Bono’s latest autobiog is Surrender. Antony’s (formerly of Antony and the Johnsons) last release was called Hopelessness. Reading the musical tea leaves of this one indicates plenty of bum notes ahead tonight.”
5 min: Eriksen swings the free kick into the mixer. Bono punches it clear, six yards out, under no pressure whatsoever. Strange that nobody in red reacted to a dangerous delivery.
4 min: Marcao shoulder barges Sabitzer with such vigour that the United midfielder flies into the dugout seats. He requires a bit of attention. Maguire’s not happy about the challenge, which had a nonsense rating of zero, and tells the referee as much. No booking, though.
2 min: Bono’s hacked clearance goes straight to Eriksen, who sets Sancho off down the left. Sancho has options, but rolls the ball out for a goal kick, having misread Martial’s run.
1 min: Sevilla are on the front foot immediately, Rakitic driving down the left and winning a corner off Wan-Bissaka. The home side don’t get their reward, though, the referee incorrectly signalling a goal kick. Rakitic not happy.
United get the ball rolling. The noise, the noise! “I don’t mind who wins really,” begins Charles Antaki, “but if the prize goes to the stadium name with the best font, then Sevilla’s Hispano-Art Deco lettering beats dull old ‘Old Trafford’ by an aesthetic mile. Perhaps use that instead of a penalty shoot-out?”
The teams are out! Sevilla sport white with red trim. Manchester United wear their first-choice gear as well … nearly, in so much as the red shirts are paired with black shorts tonight. The Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán is providing quite the atmosphere, the sort you’d expect on a balmy European night towards the business end of the season. We’ll be off in a few minutes, but in the meantime here’s a dispatch from the stadium courtesy of Niall O’Keeffe. “Took my seat early . Could not get an away end ticket so staying quiet amongst the Sevilla fans. Relatively. It’s 25 degrees centigrade which has to help the home team. United to win hopefully and Martial to put in an epic performance at the home stadium of the club to which he was sent on loan.”
Ten Hag also references the smattering of bottles that caromed off the roof of the United coach as it pulled up to the Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán this evening. “I like it! I get even more hungry and motivated. You know something is going on. A fight. It is what you want as a team and a player.”
Erik ten Hag speaks to BT Sport. “If it is 90 minutes or 120 minutes we have to get there … we have to play our best football … nobody has the right to play, you have to deserve it and now they have the opportunity to earn it … everyone is in a rhythm … some players drop out and some take over and it is a great opportunity for them ... we have to adapt the team because of injuries and suspension … we have to bring down a tough opponent tonight … they are more like an English team than a Spanish team … I am calm and composed with everyone I bring because we have a strong squad … there are six weeks to go, give everything all you have, then you can collect trophies … it’s all you want to be in this part of the season, in this position … it is all about silverware … now we have to get it done.”
Sevilla make three changes to the starting XI sent out last week at Old Trafford. Jesus Navas, Loic Bade and Youssef En-Nesyri come in for Oliver Torres and Tanguy Nianzou, who drop to the bench, and the suspended Gonzalo Montiel.
Manchester United make four changes to their line-up from the first leg. Three of them are enforced, with Bruno Fernandes suspended, and Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez injured; they’re replaced by Christian Eriksen, Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof. Meanwhile at left back Diogo Dalot replaces Tyrell Malacia, who drops to the bench, and Marcus Rashford returns from injury but doesn’t start.
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The teams
Sevilla: Bono, Navas, Bade, Marcao, Acuna, Gudelj, Fernando, Ocampos, Rakitic, Lamela, En-Nesyri.
Subs: Dmitrovic, Flores, Telles, Rekik, Suso, Mir, Nianzou, Torres, Gomez, Gil.
Manchester United: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Lindelof, Dalot, Eriksen, Casemiro, Sabitzer, Antony, Martial, Sancho.
Subs: Butland, Vitek, Rashford, Malacia, Fred, Shaw, Weghorst, Pellistri, Elanga, Iqbal.
Referee: Artur Dias (Portugal)
Your #UEL 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐗𝐈 to face @ManUtd ⚔️
— Sevilla FC (@SevillaFC_ENG) April 20, 2023
⚪ 4️⃣ changes 🔄
🔴 Badé at centre half 💪
⚪ En-Nesyri up top 🇲🇦 pic.twitter.com/gbgxL2tOyX
📋 Your United XI for tonight's huge game 👊#MUFC || #UEL
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 20, 2023
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Preamble
There are ways to throw away two-goal leads, and there are ways to throw away two-goal leads … and Manchester United’s effort against Sevilla last week was a doozy.
Better to remember Marcel Sabitzer’s goalscoring feats than the later antics of Tyrell Malacia and Harry Maguire. The Austrian found the net twice early doors, as United threatened to take the tie away from Sevilla in short order. But the Spaniards are past masters in this tournament, having won it a record six times, and dug in before forcing a shift in momentum. And now look: everything balanced almost perfectly for a rip-roaring second leg. A semi-final against Juventus or Sporting CP awaits the winner. Kick off is at 9pm in Seville, 8pm BST. It’s on!
