Sevilla sends Manchester United and Jose Mourinho out of UEFA Champions League

steemsports (80)in #steemsports • 7 years ago

SteemSports Presenter:@rickie

SteemSports Editor:@scottybuckets

Sevilla becomes the recent Spanish opposition to knock out Manchester United out of the Champions League in the last-16 stage, after a very lethargic and below par performance from the English side, at Old Trafford.

Wissam Ben Yedder , a substitute for Sevilla, was the game-changer, as he came off the bench to score after only two minutes and then double his side’s lead by heading in from a corner at the back post.

Team Line-Up:

Manchester United: de Gea, Valencia, Smalling, Bailly, Young, Fellaini, Matic, Lingard, Rashford, Sanchez, Lukaku.

Sevilla: Sergio Rico, Mercado, Lenglet, Kjaer, Escudero, Banega, Nzonzi, Sarabia, Correa, Vazquez, Muriel.

Referee: Danny Makkelie (Holland).

Venue: Old Trafford

Scoreline: Manchester United 1 - 2 Sevilla

Manchester United did little to help their cause in the game, after posing so little threat in the first leg which ended goalless in Seville. Last night at Old Trafford, they also were below par and never really looked like a side intent of winning. Asides from a Marouane Fellaini’s effort which was saved by the Sevilla shot-stopper, Sergio Rico, and a Jesse Lingard’s low strike, there wasn’t much to say of United’s performance in the first hour of the game.

Belgian striker, Romelu Lukaku scored in the 84th minute – his 24th goal of the season, for what turned out to be just a consolation; as United were already two goals behind on the night, and two away goals behind, in the tie.

The loss, means Manchester United join Tottenham as the other Premier League club exiting the tournament at this stage. With Manchester City and Liverpool having qualified already for the quarter-final, fans of English football would have to wait for the encounter between Chelsea and Barcelona to know if Chelsea would become the third English side to progress to the next stage of the UCL, on Wednesday.

This season, United manager, Jose Mourinho has often been criticized by his own supporters for the approach and style of play he has adopted for some key games this season. And true to their words and fans, the cautious approach proved very costly in the Champions league tie against Sevilla. At some point in the game, home supporters were heard yelling “attack, attack, attack” at their own players and the manager.

United qualified for the Champions League courtesy of winning last season’s Europa League, but on account of their display in the game against Sevilla and most of the Champions League games, it was evident that the team is still lagging behind the elite teams in Europe.

Mourinho’s team were quite lost for large periods during the game, and Jose’s tactics on the night didn’t seem to help or work in any way. Marouane Fellaini was surprisingly given a first start in a crucial game since he last started in November. Marcus Rashford who starred against Liverpool and caused plenty troubles from the left flank was thrusted to the right. Alexis Sanchez then played from the left but made no significant contribution in the encounter – a problem that Jose Mourinho has to fix, with regards to his star January signing.

Despite the optimism for Manchester United ahead of the second leg, following their impressive victories against Liverpool, Chelsea and Crystal Palace in the Premier League, the Red Devils failed to put their front foot out, after the opening five minutes of the encounter when they had their best spell in the game.

And the lose means that Jose Mourinho, a two-time winner of the Champions League with Porto and Inter-Milan, has now been knocked out of the last-16 for the fourth time in 12 seasons.

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