Sevilla vs Manchester United: 3 Reasons why Red Devils were dumped out of the Europa League

After a 2-2 scoreline in the first leg, it was a sensational Sevilla performance in the second leg which blew Erik ten Hag’s team away. The Spanish club registered an emphatic 3-0 victory to secure their passage to the semi-finals of the Europa League, at the expense of Man United.

It was a tepid performance from the English team who failed to garner any positive moments for them and were outplayed by a terrific Sevilla side. They went to Spain with high hopes, but they have returned empty-handed.

And dissecting the horrible night, we have found three reasons of their sorry surrender at Sevilla-

De Gea’s horrendous night

The Spaniard at the Man United goal has been a saviour for them on numerous occasions over the years. But on Thursday, he was abysmal.

De Gea was at fault in the first goal, and then failed to make amends in the second. The Spaniard failed to keep out from a loopy header of Loic Bade. The Spaniard didn’t show enough authority in the box which allowed the Spanish club to score.

But the worst came in the 81st minute, when De Gea made a horrible mistake while clearing the ball. It fell to Youssef En-Nesyri who put the ball into an empty net to score the 3rd for Sevilla. De Gea was culpable for at least two of the three goals and his performance will be scrutinised.

I’m all in with Erik Ten Hag but if he gives David De Gea a new contract then huge questions needs to be asked pic.twitter.com/y3aG27ftCc

— UE ???????? (@UtdEra_) April 20, 2023

Wayward Attacking and Lack of Rashford

Man United needed goal on the night after Sevilla took the lead. But they were far from clinical. They had the majority of the possession and created most of the chances, but failed to work the Sevilla keeper on a regular basis. Out of the 16 shots, only 3 shots were on target.

A lackluster performance in front of goal was another reason for their downfall. Anthony Martial was disappointing on the night, so were the likes of Jadon Sancho and Antony. The hero of the first match Marcel Sabitzer had a poor outing on the night as well.

The baffling decision to not start Marcus Rashford was another component of United’s shocking night. The Englishman has scored 28 goals for them this season and leaving him out in such a crucial tie was a tactical howler.

Man United lost the midfield battle

The midfield trio of Manchester United were vividly second best, and by a long way. Christian Eriksen and Casemiro failed to control and assert their authority in the midfield, while Fernando and Nemanja Gudelj were outstanding for Sevilla.

Ivan Rakitic was instrumental in the attacking prowess of the Spanish team as the veteran Croatian orchestrated the moves and also claimed a crucial assist.

Casemiro was wayward, indisciplined and Eriksen was simply not good enough. United manager brought on Fred for control, but the Brazilian failed to make an impact.