Sevilla knocks Manchester United out of Europa League

Sevilla defeated Manchester United 2-1 in their UEFA Europa League semi-final in Cologne and destroyed the Red Devils' ambitions of finishing the 2019-20 season with a European trophy.

This was the third semi-final this season that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side lost. On Sunday, the Premier League side took an early lead when Bruno Fernandes scored from the penalty spot in the 9th minute after Diego Carlos fouled Marcus Rashford. This marked United's 22nd penalty of the season.

Sevilla, who has won the Europa League five times before, didn't take much time to score the equaliser. In the 26th minute, former Liverpool forward Fernandez Saez beat David de Gea at the far post. In the 78th minute, Luuk de Jong utilised a cross from Jesus Navas to seal the game in the Spanish side's favour. United's defence was poor and that cost them the game in the end.

Man United got multiple chances to score during the second half, but Sevilla keeper Yassine Bounou denied Anthony Martial several times and emerged as a hero for the victorious side.

Sevilla and Real Madrid are the only teams to have defended their Europa League titles in the past. Real successfully defended their title once, while Sevilla did it four times. This marked the third successive campaign that Manchester United has been eliminated from any European competition by Spanish opposition.

Manchester United performed impressively in the latter part of the Premier League, but their season's end was disappointing as they couldn't secure their first trophy in three years. The last time that they won a trophy was the Europa League in 2017 under Jose Mourinho.

Since the COVID-19 lockdown, Manchester United fought hard to secure a respectable third-place in the Premier League. They signed Fernandes and seemed to be slowly resurrecting their lost form. However, losing three semi-finals within a single season wouldn't impress their fans.

Previously, they lost to Manchester City in the EFL Cup semi-final and faced defeat against Chelsea in the FA Cup. Now it was the Europa League.

But BBC claims that Solskjaer's hand is strengthened by his team's recent performances, as he can now demand some high-class additions in the squad during the upcoming transfer window.