Manchester United crashed out of the Europa League as a pitiful 3-0 defeat at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium saw Sevilla book their place in the semi-finals with a crushing 5-2 aggregate victory.
United threw away a two-goal first-leg advantage at Old Trafford with two own goals last week but stooped to new lows as Erik ten Hag’s side imploded in Spain and saw their European hopes evaporate on a sorry night.
After throwing away a two-goal lead in the first leg that ended in a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford, the teams are evenly poised here, but United also have important games elsewhere – they are involved in the FA Cup semi-finals against Brighton besides playing for a Premier League top-four finish.
Both teams enter the tie on a winning note as the Red Devils and Jose Luis Mendilibar’s Sevilla picked up 2-0 wins at Nottingham Forest and Valencia in their respective league games at the weekend.
Languishing 13th in La Liga, the Spanish side also eye winning the Europa League as their route to next season’s Champions League football.
GOAL brings you details on how to watch the game on TV in the U.S. as well as how to stream live online.
It was the latest in a series of demoralising defeats which have come to characterise Ten Hag’s debut season, and the worse possible preparation for Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Brighton at Wembley, where United’s remaining hopes of winning silverware now rest.
Sevilla’s emphatic victory saw United bow out of Europe to Spanish opposition for the sixth successive season and sealed the six-time winners’ progress through to a semi-final against Juventus, who beat Sporting 2-1 in their quarter-final.
The Spanish side are languishing at the wrong end of the table domestically but once again showed that they are the team for the big occasion. The atmosphere inside the Estadio Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan was bouncing from the start and the home side fed off the energy in the stands.
Within the opening ten minutes three Sevilla players pounced on an ill-judged pass to Harry Maguire and picked the United captain’s pocket. The ball fell to Youssef En-Nesyri and the Moroccan forward slotted coolly past David De Gea.
The hosts could have made it two before the break but were made to wait until the opening minute of the second half to double their lead. Ivan Rakitic swung in a dangerous corner and Loic Bade flicked a pinpoint header past De Gea.
Manchester United threw on Marcus Rashford, Wout Weghorst and Fred in a bid to add fresh impetus but it was Sevilla who looked the more likely to score again.
And they did, albeit thanks to a calamitous mistake from De Gea. The United stopper sought to control a ball on the edge of his box but succeeded only in passing the ball to the left foot of En-Nesyri who clipped home his second.
UEFA Europa League picks for Manchester Utd. vs. Sevilla
Before you tune in to Thursday’s match, you need to see the UEFA Europa League picks from SportsLine soccer insider Martin Green. After working in the sports betting industry for several years, Green became a professional sports writer and handicapper and has covered the game worldwide. Since last year’s World Cup, Green is 77-81-3 with his soccer picks, and he has his finger on the pulse of the game all over the globe.
For Sevilla vs. Manchester United, Green is picking both teams to score for a -130 payout. The Red Devils collapsed in the first match after Raphael Varane left with an injury, and other injuries to their defense leave the door open for Sevilla to find the back of the net on Thursday. The Spanish side has shown resiliency in league play since Luis Mendilibar has taken over as manager, and while United is still favored to win Thursday’s match, Sevilla should put up a fight.
“Despite a porous defense, Sevilla still boast a great deal of quality in attack, including Youssef En-Nesyri, Lucas Ocampos, Suso, Rafa Mir, Érik Lamela and Papu Gómez, so they should be able to exploit United’s defensive frailties, resulting in another entertaining game,” Green told SportsLine.
The hosts went ahead for the first time in the tie when En-Nesyri fired past goalkeeper David de Gea, who had begun a blundering performance by playing a poor pass to Harry Maguire to allow Sevilla to pounce.
Ten Hag sent top scorer Marcus Rashford — returning from injury — and Luke Shaw on at the break, but the action had barely restarted when Loic Bade sent a header over De Gea and into the far corner of the net from Ivan Rakitic’s corner.
De Gea then gifted Sevilla a late third when he needlessly raced out of his penalty area towards a long ball, playing possession straight to the feet of En-Nesyri, who sent a precise finish from distance into the back of the empty net.
Man United, meanwhile, have seen their hopes of a treble of trophies this season disappear. Winners of the Carabao Cup in February, Erik ten Hag’s side will now have to pick themselves up quickly for Sunday’s FA Cup semifinal against Brighton at Wembley.
Such an outcome seemed hard to imagine when Man United were in control and seeking a third goal to kill off the quarterfinal tie at Old Trafford. But not only did United concede two late own goals in the first leg, they also lost first-choice centre-backs Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez to injury as well as midfielder Bruno Fernandes to suspension.
Those absences were glaring from early on in Seville as United produced a performance desperately out of keeping with their season of rejuvenation under Ten Hag.
Spurred on by incredible home support throughout, Sevilla took less than 10 minutes to go in front.
Maguire, scorer of an own goal in the first leg, received a pass back from De Gea under pressure but should still have done far better than to pass it straight against Sevilla forward Erik Lamela. From there the ball fell kindly into the path of En-Nesyri, who easily beat the United keeper.
Sevilla wasted several chances and Lucas Ocampos had a goal ruled out by VAR due to offside in the build-up shortly before half-time.
Ten Hag brought on Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw as half-time substitutes but straight after the interval Sevilla defender Bade scored with a towering header from an Ivan Rakitic corner that went in off the crossbar.
En Nesyri wrapped up the win in the 81st minute after United goalkeeper David De Gea failed to deal with a long ball over the top and the Morocco striker finished well to move the Spanish side closer to a record-extending seventh victory in the competition.
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