As Manchester United’s hopes of competing in the Europa League in Spain were dashed, errors by Harry Maguire and David De Gea bookended a humiliating 3-0 loss at Sevilla.
The Red Devils withered rather than fought back at the boisterous Estadio Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan a week after wasting a comfortable two-goal lead in the first leg of this quarterfinal.
Youssef En-Nesyri profited from a Maguire oversight and, following Loic Bade’s header, punished De Gea’s miss in a 3-0 triumph that saw United suffer a humiliating 5-2 aggregate loss in the Europa League.
The Red Devils had defeated Real Betis and Barcelona to get to this point, but for the sixth consecutive season, Spanish opposition ruined their European ambitions.
In spite of Erik ten Hag’s repeated requests for his players to maintain their composure, Sevilla started that streak in 2018, and they immediately put the visitors on the back foot on Thursday.
In the seventh minute, Erik Lamela won the ball and En-Nesyri scored due to pressure from the home team that caused Maguire to mishandle a bad De Gea pass out.
Abject United was fortunate not to fall further behind at halftime after Lucas Ocampos’ goal was disallowed. However, 76 seconds into the second half, they once again gave up the lead.
The visitors’ response was frantic and fragmented as they struggled to recover when Bade, who began the season on loan at Nottingham Forest, headed home.
En-Nesyri scored into an empty net from a distance after De Gea failed to clear a high ball, making the situation worse.
When Marcel Sabitzer’s brace put United in cruise control last Thursday, nobody could have predicted this result.
However, Sevilla capitalized on United’s absences at Old Trafford by riding their good fortune, before acting erratically in front of their great crowd.
With toilet paper pouring down from the stands and flags flying in the air as the teams emerged, an intimidating white wall surrounding the group of United supporters.
The fervent energy was channeled by Sevilla’s players into a quick, fiery start, and their strong pressing resulted in an early goal.
Maguire threw the ball back to De Gea and signaled for the return, but a bad ball out and the attention of three Sevilla players caused Maguire to get anxious.
En-Nesyri picked up the loose ball and drove past United’s statuesque goalie to excite the home crowd after Lamela blocked his attempt to pass away from danger.