Man United's Europa League exit: Frustrated Ten Hag blasts players for 'lack of passion' in Sevilla defeat
UEFA Europa League: Manchester United suffered a painful 0-3 drubbing to Sevilla and exited from the quarterfinal after an aggregate 2-5 defeat. Meanwhile, club boss Erik ten Hag was frustrated again and slammed the players for "lack of passion".
FollowAgain, it was another unconvincing outing from English giants Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League (UEL). Taking on Sevilla in the away leg on Thursday after finishing the home leg last week 2-2, the visitors suffered a brutal 0-3 thrashing, as the hosts yet again prevailed and sailed into the semis, now being dubbed as the favourite again to win the title.
The Red Devils fell behind in the eighth after Youssef En-Nesyri tapped the ball past David de Gea following Harry Maguire's howler. While Loic Badé doubled the lead a couple of minutes into the second half, En-Nesyri scored his brace and the eventual winner in the 81st. In the meantime, United head coach Erik ten Hag was once again frustrated with his side's performance and blasted it for "lack of passion".
"We have to do better. That's the demand. We needed to be composed and calm. We didn't beat the press; when you do, there are so many spaces behind, and it was obvious at the start how to do it. We lost the battles. They had more passion, more desire, and more willingness. That's difficult to win games," he told BT Sport.
"It's about the players on the pitch. I believe in and trust them, they have to perform, but they have to show it, and they were not good enough. We have shown on so many occasions good things, but tonight we weren't ready for the game. You must be ready for every game at this level, playing for Manchester United. This was a great opportunity, a great occasion, to win something, and we gave it away – we have to blame ourselves," added ETH.
