Champions League exit nothing new: Jose Mourinho

Monitoring Desk

MANCHESTER: Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho said being knocked out of the Champions League at home in the last 16 was “nothing new for the club”.

Sevilla substitute Wissam Ben Yedder netted twice for the Spanish side in their 2-1 victory at Old Trafford.

Since losing the 2011 final, United have only reached the quarter-finals once – losing to Bayern Munich in 2014.

“I don’t think the performance was bad,” said boss Mourinho, who lost at the last-16 stage for the fourth time.

He added: “I don’t have regrets. I did my best, the players did their best. We tried, we lost and that is football.”

“We should have done much better with the quality we have in the team,” said Romelu Lukaku, who grabbed a late consolation goal. “We wanted to go far in the Champions League, that’s what a club like United needs to do”.

When asked about the atmosphere in the dressing room after the game, the Belgium striker told BT Sport that “some players were hiding”.

United were second best in the two matches against the Spanish side and Mourinho was made to pay for his cautious approach as they failed to join rivals Manchester City and Liverpool in the last eight.

The Red Devils have now won just one out of their past nine knockout games in the competitions and have been knocked out at this stage in two of their past three campaigns.

A bright opening five minutes saw Lukaku strike wide and have an effort blocked from close range, but La Liga outfit Sevilla controlled the contest thereafter.

Mourinho said: “I sat in this chair twice in the Champions League after knocking out Manchester United [in the last 16] at home, at Old Trafford. In this chair with Porto [in 2004] and Real Madrid [in 2013], they are out both times. It is not something new for the club.

“I don’t think the performance was bad, I think the intention and the way we started was really good and positive. Sevilla has a good team and they can hide the ball and have players in midfield who are good at doing that. They did that for the majority of the time.

“I think the first goal was always going to be important, not just because of the first-leg result but also the profile of the match.

“Sometimes I am lucky with changes, others time other managers are. It was good, a happy move by Vincenzo to bring Ben Yedder on. When they scored the first goal, the game is completely different.”

With the Premier League all but lost to City, United must focus attention on the FA Cup as their only hope of claiming silverware this season, coming up against Brighton in the sixth round on Saturday.

Manchester United were knocked out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage after an awful performance ended in a 2-1 home defeat by Sevilla.

Substitute Wissam Ben Yedder was the match-winner for the Spanish side, shooting from inside the area just two minutes after coming on and heading in at the back post from a corner.

After posing little threat in the goalless first leg, United again looked second best against the La Liga side, though Marouane Fellaini’s thumping effort did draw Sergio Rico into a save and the away goalkeeper kept out Jesse Lingard’s low strike.

Romelu Lukaku lashed home from close range with seven minutes remaining, but it proved to be merely a consolation.