Erik Ten Hag believes 'tonight was not our night', after Manchester United suffered a disastrous final ten minutes against Sevilla.
United spectacularly blew a 2-0 lead against Sevilla to draw 2-2 in the Europa League quarter-final first leg at Old Trafford. It leaves the tie in the balance ahead of the second leg next Thursday in southern Spain.
Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez both went off injured for the Red Devils, which led to the hosts playing with ten men for stoppage time. Ten hag believes he was forced into making early substitutions, and suggests Martinez does not have an achilles injury.
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On making early substitutes
Ten Hag had already used four of his substitutions by the 62nd minute. Varane was forced off through injury at half-time, whilst the likes of Jadon Sancho were taken off with 30 minutes left on the clock.
The Dutch manager believes he had to make those changes, and that his side had no luck.
He said: "No, but I had to make them. Varane was injured. That was the first one I had to make. Anthony Martial had his first start after a long period, so I had to make it on the 60th minute. Then Bruno Fernandes was on a booking. I got a warning from the referee that he was close to a second booking. I had to make the subs.
"I had no other choice. Still we controlled the game. Still we had to score the third goal, good action from Pelli, then Tyrell Malacia had a big chance to make it 3-0.
"Last 10 mins of the game, everything was against us. Then we have to be more smart. Both goals against us were really unlucky, two deflected. Sometimes you have bad days, bad luck. Tonight was not our night."
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Martinez's dreaded wait for news
Martinez going off injured summed up United's evening on Thursday. They suffered severely from bad luck, and their season is now at risk if their two best centre-backs are out injured.
The former Ajax manager suggested it is not an achilles injury, but he will wait to confirm it.
He said: "No it is not the area [of the achilles]. But I can not tell the area of what it is, but it is not the area of the achilles.
"It could be [a serious impact on the team]. We have Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, and Luke Shaw. So we have players than can replace them, but of course it is a miss. There is a chance Marcus Rashford might be back, but I can not confirm it in this moment.
"I think he [Martinez] will not play on Sunday, it looks like that but I can't say what is the diagnosis. I prefer to wait and know exactly what it is.
"I have spoken to him [Martinez]. He's ok, he's calm. We are competing in three competitions, then you need a squad. So if Martinez, Varane are not available, then we just have to do it. On Saturday, Maguire played a good game and also tonight he came in."
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On the second half drop off
After half-time, Man United seemed to lose the intensity and desire they had in the first half. The only physical difference was Maguire for Varane, but they still lacked the final touch.
However, Ten Hag believes there was not a significant drop off in the team and suggests they had chances to kill the match off.
He said: "No I do not think so [if there was a drop off after half time]. Also the second half, we had our opportunities. I can not remember if they created chances. We created chances. Antony three times had a very good shot into the area. Malacia also had his shot.
"We had our opportunities to score the third goal. In the last ten minutes, everything tonight was against us. We have to make sure we learn from these nights. You have to accept it and go home.
"I am not thinking about the next leg in Spain. The next game in Forest. I have an idea of what we can play on Sunday. We will see how we come out of the game and then we have a plan."