Sevilla vs Man Utd LIVE: Result and reaction as Youssef En-Nesyri brace knocks United out of Europa League

The warm-ups are done and the players are about to head back onto the pitch. This is going to be an intriguing contest and could come down to who scores first.

Sevilla will be more confident as they’re at home but Manchester United - even a depleted United like this - will believe they can get through.

“A year ago I dreamed of being where I am today,” said Christian Eriksen before today’s Europa League clash. “It was a dream to come back and play football and I was lucky that the manager wanted me here.

“We let them [Sevilla] into the game in the first game as we had good control in the first hour. They have had a lot of different coaches this season, but they are now starting to win games.

“They have a good team, a good shape and some very good individuals but we have already won a trophy and I am aiming for two more.”

By the end, the Manchester United supporters were customising a chant, one they like to deliver with the arrogance of winners. “You’ve seen United, now go off home,” – albeit with a different verb – was adjusted to incorporate Harry Maguire’s name. Their Nottingham Forest counterparts had indeed seen Maguire: “Leicester reject” echoed around the City Ground, and Leicester would probably like more rejects if they could pocket £80 million for each of them.

But the taunts turned into a triumph of sorts. Maguire could be used to insult the Forest fans but United have won each of the last 11 games he has started. That is not to say they have won because he was starting: he was abject for the first half-hour in Nottingham, decent thereafter. A terrible beginning could have cost United and, when he was booked for wrestling the quicker Taiwo Awoniyi to the ground, leaving him with 87 minutes to survive on a yellow card, there was the chance that sights of Maguire could have been confined to a relatively short period of time.

And, suddenly, United’s season has started to rest on Maguire. Take Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez out, and injuries have, and the most expensive back-up centre-back in the world is suddenly as pivotal was he was in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s plans. Erik ten Hag has prospered by getting upgrades in two partnerships, in the middle of defence and midfield, but as Casemiro was reunited with Christian Eriksen, it was to shield Solskjaer’s long-time centre-back duo. More potent teams than Forest could test Maguire and Victor Lindelof.

Manchester United have scored in each of their five away games in the Europa League this season for a total of nine goals.

"Defensively, we are good, we have the most clean sheets in the Premier League, so our organisation all over the pitch is good, and in attack, we should have scored more goals over the season," says boss Erik ten Hag.

"I am confident, especially now we have all the players on board, we [will] score every game."

Manchester United’s last five European campaigns have all been brought to an end by Spanish clubs.

Sevilla started that run in 2017/18 and Atlético Madrid extended it in last season’s Champions League round of 16.

The elimination of Barcelona and Real Betis this season means United’s overall record in two-legged European ties against Spanish teams is now won 10, lost 10.

Manchester United are unbeaten in six matches against Spanish clubs (four wins, two draws).

However, they have still managed just 22 wins overall in 73 Uefa matches against Spanish opposition (27 draws, 24 defeats).

Although the Red Devils have won only seven of their 32 games in Spain (13 draws, 12 losses), four of those victories have come on their last six visits, with the other two matches drawn, including 2-2 earlier this year at the Camp Nou.

Their record in Spain this season is won two. drawn one, the other fixtures bringing 1-0 wins at Real Sociedad and Real Betis.

“Yeah, definitely. We also said after that we had to look in the mirror, but also it was bad luck as well,” replied Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag when asked if his team can take confidence from the first 60 minutes at Old Trafford in the first leg.

“In the end with 10 [men], we conceded the goal. It was, I think, a really unlucky goal. It was a deflected goal, but it is what it is. You can do nothing for it, the only thing you can change is the future so we have to be ready for that game.

“Always when a fanatic crowd is against you, you’re looking forward [to it]. I think what you said, the atmosphere will be brilliant.

“The pitch is great and we have to be ready for that game. We want to go to the semi-final and then you have to give everything, because 99 per cent is not enough.”

Sevilla head coach Jose Luis Mendilibar believes Marcus Rashford is “one of the best players” around but says his potential return will not alter their approach against Manchester United.

The 25-year-old has recovered from a difficult campaign in stunning fashion, scoring 28 goals in all competitions before pulling up injured against Everton 11 days ago.

Rashford missed last week’s chaotic, and potentially costly, 2-2 first-leg draw with Sevilla in the Europa League quarter-finals but there is a chance he will return in Spain on Thursday.

The England international trained with his team-mates ahead of the trip to Seville, where he scored a stunner as United won 1-0 at city rivals Real Betis in the previous round.

Sevilla’s home record against English sides is won four, drawn two and lost three.

However, a 1-0 win in the first leg of last season’s Europa League round of 16 against West Ham is the club’s only victory in their last five such fixtures (two draws, two defeats).

Tthe two defeats were their joint heaviest of all time in Europe, both 0-4 in the Champions League group stage – against Chelsea in 2020/21 and Manchester City on Matchday 1 this season.

The clubs have met twice before in Uefa competition.

The first time in the 2017/18 Champions League round of 16 where after a goalless first leg in southern Spain, Vincenzo Montella’s Sevilla took the tie with a 2-1 win at Old Trafford against José Mourinho’s United thanks to a quickfire double from French striker Wissam Ben Yedder seeing the visitors to victory despite a late reply from Romelu Lukaku.

The second occasion was in the 2019/20 Europa League semi-final, a Sevilla side led by Julen Lopetegui won a single-leg tie 2-1 in Cologne against Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s United. The English side took the lead through Bruno Fernandes’s ninth-minute penalty, only for Suso to equalise on 26 minutes and Luuk de Jong to complete the comeback with a 78th-minute winner.