Sevilla's Jose Luis Mendilibar surprised by easy win over Manchester United

Played at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium on Thursday night, the match saw Sevilla exploit the mistakes made by United's Harry Maguire and David de Gea, who seemed to be out of sync throughout the game.

"We came from an awkward situation in Manchester, where we drew 2-2 without doing things right," said Mendilibar to TribalFootball with a smile, as his team capitalized on two errors from De Gea to secure the win. "People believed that we could do it. In the end, we did it. It's surprising for us to win a game against Manchester United without struggling and with such forcefulness. It's not easy."

Sevilla, known for their prowess in the Europa League with six titles since the start of the century, now advances to the semi-finals where they will face Juventus. Mendilibar acknowledges that Juventus may not have the same explosive pace as United, but he expects a more solid and collective performance from Max Allegri's team.

"Juventus will be more difficult," added Mendilibar. "Juventus is stronger as a team, different from United. They don't have as much speed, but it will be more challenging."

The match against United was one of those nights where incompetence seemed contagious, with even Casemiro and Christian Eriksen, who have been impressive since their summer arrivals, succumbing to mistakes. United's performance lacked leadership, drive, and backbone, with the absence of Bruno Fernandes, who was suspended for the match, looming large.

Not even the return of Marcus Rashford could lift his team out of the hole they had dug themselves into. Maguire and De Gea's errors in the build-up to Sevilla's goals proved costly, and Mendilibar's team capitalized on the opportunity with clinical precision.

Sevilla's victory over Manchester United sends a strong message to the remaining teams in the Europa League, and they will undoubtedly be a formidable opponent for Juventus in the upcoming semi-finals.

Mendilibar will be hoping to continue his team's impressive run in the tournament and add to Sevilla's storied history in the Europa League.