The danger of a good run of form is that sometimes it can paper over the cracks. The danger of a great run of form is that sometimes it makes people say, “Cracks? What cracks?”. If there was ever a game to show all of the issues this Manchester United team has, this would be it. Sevilla continued their excellent record both in the Europa League and against English opposition to advance to the final. Let’s take a look at how that happened. 

Man Utd started vibrantly, and got a deserved penalty when after some lovely skill from Martial to put Rashford through, the England International was fouled after his shot. Bruno Fernandes took a brilliant penalty to put Utd 1-0 up. Following this bright start, Utd couldn’t capitalise on any more of their openings, which allowed Sevilla back into the game. Poor decision making, particularly from Greenwood and Rashford, stifled moves, while a miss from Fred meant the game stayed at 1-0.

Sevilla’s tactics of pushing their fullbacks extremely high up the pitch initially left them exposed, but as they got a hold of the ball through the evergreen Ever Banega, the strategy started to pay dividends. They got down the left hand side to great effect, with the highly rated Serge Reguilón’s movement in behind causing Wan-Bissaka big problems. This resulted in Sevilla’s equaliser where Wan-Bissaka couldn’t keep up with Reguilón’s run, who crossed well for Suso to finish at the back post.

However, as good as the cross from Reguilón was, what on earth was Maguire doing!? He looked more concerned by the potential cut back than getting into position to cut out the cross soon to come across the face of the goal. As Sevila showed later on, if you have enough bodies in front of goal, you can stop a shot from a cut back, but Maguire’s poor split second decision left De Gea with no chance. In Semi Finals, these moments are typically what decide games. 

‘At least the front three were firing right?’, I hear you say optimistically. Not quite, no. With all the space Sevilla’s fullbacks left, one could be forgiven for thinking that Marcus Rashford in particular would’ve had a field day with all the space he had to run into. One such occasion at the end of the first half saw Man Utd 2-on-2 on the counter attack, with Rashford running into the box. He cut inside as expected, only to completely lose control of the ball and cough up possession to the incredibly grateful Sevilla defender. Moments like these have big bearings on the outcomes of games, but more of the same was to come shortly after the break.

Looking to seize the initiative, Man Utd pressed Sevilla at a very high level of intensity at the beginning of the 2nd half. The interplay between the midfield and attack was slick, and Sevilla couldn’t cope. What ensued was the most incredible passage of wastefulness, last ditch defending and heroic goalkeeping seen since...the FC Copenhagen game earlier in the week. Chance after chance was created and squandered, with Rashford, Greenwood and in particular Martial most culpable. The fact that not even one goal was scored was unbelievable, considering that one could’ve reasonably expected the game to have been completely over as a contest after that 15 minute flurry, such was the number and quality of the chances created.

Credit must be given to Bono in particular for bailing his team out, and the Sevilla defence and midfield for throwing themselves in front of as many shots as they did, but should they have been given the opportunity to do so?

Martial has been extremely impressive since the restart in June - he has to be considered as Man Utd’s best player since then. His all round play vs FC Copenhagen and Sevilla was top notch, however he must become more clinical. Greenwood showed his inexperience on many occasions last night, particularly in shooting when there were much better placed options around him. Rashford has struggled badly to regain the electric form he had before his back injury, and has looked like a player running on low confidence. 

The subs brought on by Solskjaer made matters worse: Mata was poor, James was ineffective and Ighalo was somehow only given 4 minutes to make an impact. That these, along with Lingard and Pereira, are the only options to come off the bench and change the game must be concerning to the former Ultimate Super Sub; how many games did Solskjaer rescue for Utd, even if we forget about the famous night in Barcelona? Too many to count. Regarding Ighalo, why fight to extend his loan if he will only come on in the 92nd minute? He wasn't given enough time to make a difference.

Sevilla, to their credit, weathered the storm well, and through Banega’s skill and experience managed to gain a foothold in the game once again. They got control of possession and slowed the game down. Navas’s cross for De Jong got them the winner late on, but that brings us onto the next issue. Man Utd’s defending was atrocious, and the fact that Lindelöf and Wan-Bissaka couldn’t effectively mark the only man in the box between them is frightening. Lindelöf in particular, as the centre back in front of De Jong had to cut out the cross. 

Williams looks like a promising youngster who overall has done very well in his first full season, but he must learn from nights like Sunday night. Rash in the tackle, he sometimes over commits, leading him to either be beaten or foul and get yellow carded. In addition to that, his one footedness leads many of Utd’s attacks to come to a grinding halt on the left hand side. On the other flank, all the progress Wan-Bissaka made offensively pre-lockdown has been completely lost, making Utd’s gameplan of exploiting the width of the pitch through the fullbacks nigh impossible. Much work to be done then. 

Manchester United played extremely well in fits and spurts vs Sevilla. One has to say they played the better football, and on another day could have easily won 5-2. But they didn’t, and that will frustrate Solskjaer. This season must be considered a success; 3rd place was the best that could have been expected and is the 2nd best league finish since Ferguson retired. However, to lose in 3 Semi Finals in one season is unprecedented and concerning. 

Solskjaer must use this in the same way Jürgen Klopp did when his Liverpool went through a torrid run in finals to not only galvanise his current squad, but also to ensure complacency at board level does not set in. This team needs both improvements in the starting XI and the bench. Defensively, they still do not look convincing, and while Mason Greenwood has had an absolutely incredible first full season, it still seems like a big ask for him to start week in week out without becoming fatigued and suffering from dips in form. 

For Sevilla, it was a repeat vs Manchester United in European competition, and they can once again look forward to a European final. If they face Inter they may well start the game as underdogs, but with the European pedigree they have, they will absolutely fancy their chances of adding another Europa League trophy to the trophy cabinet, and so they should.