Wednesday, 14 March 2018

UCL : Mourinho is out of touch, and out of the UCL


WissBenYedder: "We've made history and we couldn't be happier"

  • Manchester United went into the game on level terms after a 0-0 draw away against Sevilla in the first leg
  • Paul Pogba was on the bench after missing the Liverpool game but was introduced for Marouane Fellaini 
  • Wissam Ben Yedder broke the deadlock for the visitors with a perfectly-placed effort into the bottom corner
  • The Sevilla substitute then doubled their advantage with a header, despite David de Gea getting a hand to it 
  • Romelu Lukaku managed to pull a late goal back for Manchester United, but it was not enough for his side 
By the time the last Manchester United player left the pitch, the stadium had already close to emptied. Only one pocket of noise and jubilation remained, Sevilla's support, bouncing and boisterous, singing in Spanish to the same melody that accompanies 'Will Grigg's on fire'.

Wissam Ben Yedder's on fire doesn't scan, but he was and as a result Manchester United are out of Europe. An excellent performance by the away team, full of the ambition United failed to show over two matches, was only half the tale, though. 

Manchester United haven't travelled beyond this stage since 2014 and didn't really look like doing it on Tuesday night, either. If Sevilla could have found their range earlier, this tie would not have taken so long to conclude. As it was the addition of Ben Yedder – a striker rejected by West Ham for being too small, apparently – changed the game. 


"There is no time to be sad," Mourinho said after Wissam Ben Yedder's two goals sent Sevilla into the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time. "This is football. It's not the end of the world.
"I sit in this chair twice in the Champions League and knocked United out of the Champions League, with Real or Porto, so I don't think it is something new for the club. I don't have regrets, I did my best, the players tried their best. We lost, that's football."
A shellshocked Mourinho looks surprised on the touchline after his side exited the Champions League at the last-16 stage
 
Sanchez puts his head in his shirt as the ex-Arsenal man again failed to get past the last-16 stage of the Champions League

PLAYER RATINGS:
MAN UTD (4-1-4-1) : De Gea-6, Valencia 6, Bailly 6, Smalling 6, Matic 6, Rashford 6, Fellaini 6 [Pogba 5) Lingard 6, Shancez 5, Lukaku 6.5

Subs not used : Romero, Lindelof, Darmian, McTominay

SEVILLA [4-2-3-1] : Rico-6, Mercado 6.5,Kjaer 7.5, Lenglet 7, Escudero 7, Nzonzi 8, Banega 7, Sarabia 7, Vazquez 6.5, Correa 8, Muriel 6(Ben Yedder 8.5)

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