By
Erik ten Hag has admitted his Manchester United players were «not ready» to compete against Sevilla and this led to them exiting the Europa League.
Man Utd were in a great position going into their Europa League quarter-final clash with Sevilla and could have finished the game by the end of the first leg.
They led 2-0 thanks to a brace from Marcel Sabitzer, but own goals from Tyrell Malacia and Harry Maguire leveled the tie ahead of the second leg in Spain.
United put up a poor performance in the second leg as they were easily beaten by Sevilla. Mistakes by Maguire and David De Gea gave Youssef En-Nesyri two goals. His brace came either side of Loic Bade’s header just after the break.
The Red Devils didn’t seem to want to get back into the game they suffered an embarrassing quarter-final exit. Now they have to regroup ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley against Brighton and Hove Albion.
Speaking after the game, Ten Hag admitted United were «not good enough» against Sevilla on Thursday night.
“We have to do better, this is the request. We were not composed, not calm. We didn’t beat the press, when you do that there are so many spaces behind, and it was obvious at the start how to do it,” Ten Hag told BT Sport.
“We lost battles, they had more passion, more desire, more will, it’s difficult to win games.
“We can’t run away from it. We have another opportunity on Sunday and we need to step up and show more character and personality.
“It’s not about them [the players that were missing], it’s about the players on the field. They have to perform, I believe in them and I trust them, but they have to show it and they weren’t good enough.
“We showed many good things but tonight we weren’t ready for the game. At this level, playing for Manchester United, you have to be ready for every match.
“This was a great opportunity, a great chance, to win something and we gave it away – we have ourselves to blame. It’s gone, we can’t change it. We have to look forward to Sunday, this is the next opportunity.»
READ MORE: Man Utd trophy tops Arsenal title challenge? Ferdinand and Keane show true colors
