“It’s clear: We make such mistakes, it’s very difficult to win a football game”
Erik ten Hag could barely constrain his frustration after Manchester United fumbled their way out of the Europa League.
An error-strewn performance saw ten Hag’s side concede two calamitous goals on turnovers, as well as a soft set piece goal, en route to a 3-0 second leg loss at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán. Sevilla, as a result, is through to the Europa Leagues semifinals on a 5-2 aggregate win after having fallen behind 2-0 in the first leg.
This same opponent has ended Man Utd’s European dreams three times in the last six seasons, with this victory joining similar triumphs in the 2017-18 Champions League round of 16 and the 2019-20 Europa League semifinals.
Speaking to BT Sport after the match, ten Hag let out a sign before saying that he felt like the cause of their downfall was obvious. “It’s clear,” said ten Hag. “We make such mistakes, it’s very difficult to win a football game.”
Brushing off the chance to use the raucous atmosphere as an excuse, ten Hag asserted that a loud opposing fan base isn’t an explanation for his side’s meltdown. “[I] expect that we can deal with it. So I won’t say that’s an explanation for it. We have to do better. That is the demand.”
The Red Devils fell behind in the eighth minute as David de Gea’s iffy pass to Harry Maguire was made much worse by the England center back. Maguire’s attempt to spray the ball wide thumped into Érik Lamela, and Youssef En-Nesyri immediately pounced to side-foot past de Gea.
“You have seen what I have seen,” seethed ten Hag when asked about the shaky start. “We were not composed. We were not calm. Once you beat [Sevilla’s] press, huge spaces on the pitch, but we didn’t do it at the start, and it was so obvious how to do it.”
The poor first half could have been worse, with VAR spotting that Marcos Acuña was narrowly offside before sending in a cross that eventually ended with Lucas Ocampos firing past de Gea. Again, it was a play that started with careless play: Casemiro’s pass out to Aaron Wan-Bissaka was misplaced badly enough that Acuña could make an interception deep in Man Utd’s half.
For ten Hag, Man Utd’s mistakes were compounded by being out-fought by Sevilla.
“Bad decisions, and then also, we lose the battles. They had more passion and more desire, more willingness,” said ten Hag. “So then, it’s difficult to win big football games.”
That was likely on ten Hag’s mind when thinking of the second goal, as Loïc Badé simply beat Casemiro to a corner, using his shoulder to guide the ball over de Gea, off the bar, and just over the line.
Summing up a bumbling display by just about everyone in red on the night, de Gea completely mis-controlled a hopeless long ball, turning an easy situation into a brace for En-Nesyri. Any chance of a Man Utd comeback was completely dead and buried.
Man Utd were without several key players, with Raphaël Varane and Lisandro Martínez both suffering injuries in the first leg and Bruno Fernandes suspended. Maguire and Victor Lindelöf stepped in as the center back duo, while Marcel Sabitzer replaced the influential Portuguese playmaker.
Still, ten Hag refused to point in the direction of his absent starters, reiterating that the team on the field just didn’t deliver.
“It’s about the players who are on the pitch. They have to perform,” stated ten Hag. “I believe in them, I trust them and then they have to show. But today, we were not good enough.
“We showed so many occasions [with] good performance and good things, but tonight — and also we had some occasions [like this] — we were not ready for the game. And it can’t be when you are on this level, when you’re playing for Manchester United. You have to be ready for every game. This is a great opportunity. This is a great occasion, a quarterfinal in Europe, to win something, and then you give it away. So, we have to blame ourselves.”
Watch ten Hag go off after Man United’s poor showing
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