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.
Harry Maguire’s early error, which presented Youssef En-Nesyri with Sevilla’s seventh-minute opener, set the tone for the insipid performance, which only got worse seconds after the break when Loic Bade’s header looped in off the bar, and was then compounded by David De Gea’s howler gifting En-Nesyri his second.
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.
Having had a hand in both of Sevilla’s goals in their first-leg comeback at Old Trafford, another self-inflicted wound saw United get off to a nightmare start at a deafening Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
Captain Maguire was swarmed upon by Sevilla forwards after calling for a pass from goalkeeper De Gea and he was swiftly dispossessed as En-Nesyri raced into the area and clinically found the bottom corner to give the hosts the lead in the tie for the first time.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka registered United’s first – and only – attempt on target in the first half with a tame shot which proved no match for goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, and it wasn’t long before Sevilla threatened again, with Lucas Ocampos close to bundling in a second from En-Nesyri’s knockdown before De Gea scrambled clear.
Sevilla were celebrating a second as the interval approached after Ocampos fired superbly into the top corner but United were reprieved by the tightest of VAR calls, with Marcos Acuna straying millimetres offside in the build-up.
United brought on Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw at half-time but found themselves two goals behind within 76 seconds of the restart, as Bade’s header from an Ivan Rakitic corner looped over De Gea and into the United net off the underside of the bar.
United’s response was desperate as it was non-existent, with the loss of Anthony Martial to injury further hampering hopes of an unlikely and undeserved comeback before they conspired to put themselves out of their own misery.
De Gea’s mindless mis-control outside his area put a second on a plate for En-Nesyri who curled into the open net from long range to confirm Sevilla’s progress and a night to forget for United.
