Manchester United were eliminated Thursday in the quarter-finals of the Europa League, dryly beaten 3-0 in Seville at the end of an evening when Juventus rallied the last four thanks to their draw (1-1) in Lisbon against Sporting Portugal.
Juve and Sevilla will meet in the semi-finals (first leg on May 11, return on May 18). The other C3 poster will oppose Roma, who eliminated Feyenoord in extra time (4-1) against Bayer Leverkusen, who defeated Union Saint-Gilloise (4-1).
United, without Lisandro Martinez and Raphaël Varane injured or Bruno Fernandes, suspended, was surprised from the start of the game by a loss of the ball in defense of Harry Maguire, which took advantage of Youssef En-Nesyri (8th), author of a double .
Sevilla could have increased the scoring before the break but Lucas Ocampos’ goal was canceled for an offside position by Marcos Acuna.
The Spanish club, record holder of Europa League titles (six, in 2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2020), and which had snatched a draw in the first leg in the dying minutes (2-2), made the difference from a corner in the second half thanks to a header from Loïc Badé (47th), before En-Nesyri definitely sounded the end of the suspense in the 81st.
This elimination marks a big setback for the men of Erik ten Hag, third in the English championship.
– Roma join Juve –
The evening was much better for Juventus, who validated their qualification by defeating Sporting (1-1), after winning 1-0 in the first leg.
Adrien Rabiot opened the scoring in the 9th minute before shining in a much less good way by causing a penalty converted by Marcus Edwards (20th).
But in the end, Juve punctuates in the best way a day when it also learned the cancellation – for the time being provisional – of its withdrawal of 15 points in the league for questionable transfers.
As in the Champions League, which will have two clubs in the semis with Inter and AC Milan, Italy registers two representatives in the last four of C3 after the late qualification of Roma on Thursday (a fifth Italian club, Fiorentina , will play the semi-finals of the Europa League Conference).
Thanks to a goal from Paulo Dybala at the end of regulation time (2-1 victory), José Mourinho’s team pushed Feyenoord into extra time and finally won 4-1 at home with goals from Stephan El Shaarawy (101st) and Lorenzo Pellegrini (108th).
Finally in Belgium, Union Saint-Gilloise’s first European adventure came to an abrupt end after Bayer Leverkusen’s 4-1 victory. Moussa Diaby, Mitchel Bakker, Jeremie Frimpong and Adam Hlozek scored the goals for Bayer, and erased their check in the first leg (1-1).
