Manchester United defender Harry Maguire insisted the “best side lost” after the English giants were beaten 2-1 by Sevilla in the Europa League semi-finals on Sunday.
“The boys are
devastated. We created numerous chances. The best team lost. They punished us
for missing chances. They didn’t make many chances to be honest,” Maguire told
broadcaster BT Sport.
Bruno Fernandes’s
early penalty was cancelled out by Suso’s strike for five-time winners Sevilla.
But United made and
wasted almost all the big chances after the break as Bono produced a string of
stunning saves until substitute Luuk De Jong turned home a Jesus Navas cross 12
minutes from time.
“We worked our
socks off and deserved to win and get through. We fell short in a semi-final
for the third time this year,” added Maguire.
“Losing is not
acceptable. Getting to semi-finals isn’t acceptable. We have to take it to the
next step.”
The defeat means
United are now without a trophy in three seasons while Sevilla go on to face
either Inter Milan or Shakhtar Donetsk in the final.
“We want to win
silverware as soon as possible,” added Maguire.
“Tonight we turned
up and the best team lost. Perhaps that bit of inexperience cost us – we
shouldn’t have conceded that second goal.”