Manchester United's Europa League campaign came to a humiliating end last night with a series of self-inflicted wounds.
Yet the reality is this quarter-final was lost at Old Trafford in the first leg, when United led 2-0, had chances to put the tie to bed, but conceded two late own goals to lose the initiative. Erik ten Hag also lost his first-choice central defensive pairing of Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane that night, a loss that was to have a huge bearing on this meek exit from Europe.
Harry Maguire has had a season to forget, the United captain losing his place at the start of the season after Ten Hag realised he simply could not trust the 30-year-old. However, it got a whole lot worse for Maguire, whose early blunder gifted Sevilla the opening goal and set the tone for a defeat that showed how far United still have to go.
United badly missed the influence of suspended playmaker Bruno Fernandes, but his enforced absence alone could not explain such a shambolic display from a team supposedly on the up.
“It’s just been such a bad evening for Manchester United,” lamented Robbie Savage on commentary for BT Sport during the second half. “Shambles is the word.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Sevilla's Ivan Rakitic had warned United they would not know what had hit them with the fervent and hostile atmosphere inside the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium - and so it proved.
The noise inside the arena reached a crescendo in the eighth minute when Sevilla took the lead courtesy of a howler from David De Gea and, in particular, the hapless Maguire.
Maguire called for the ball, despite having three Sevilla players bearing down on him. De Gea should have gone long, but instead passed the ball to his captain, with disastrous consequences.
Without looking, Maguire tried to play a first-time pass to Aaron Wan-Bissaka, but the Sevilla trio read the situation, Erik Lamela winning the ball, with Youssef En-Nesyri slotting it past De Gea.
Maguire scored an own goal late on in the first leg, to allow Sevilla to draw level, although on that occasion he was an unwitting victim. This time, however, he was wholly culpable for the goal.
Thereafter Maguire was an accident waiting to happen, anxious and uncertain whenever the ball came his way, Sevilla's fans seizing on his vulnerability by goading him whenever in possession.
There was no fluency about United and little understanding between their players, with Ten Hag's side persistently squandering possession and offering nothing in the way of an attacking threat. The only fleeting chances they had in an insipid 45 minutes were a tame shot from Wan-Bissaka, hit straight at Sevilla keeper Bono, and a header from Casemiro over the bar.
Sevilla scored for the second time five minutes before the break, through Lucas Ocampos, but United received a let-off when the goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR check.
United somehow made it to half-time only a goal down, but change was needed and it came in the form of Shaw and Rashford for Wan-Bissaka and Jadon Sancho.
Yet United found themselves 2-0 down within two minutes of the restart, Ivan Rakitic's corner met by Loic Bade, the ball coming off his shoulder and going in off the underside of the bar.
There was no way back for United after that, De Gea making another calamitous error late on, mis-controlling the ball outside his area, allowing En-Nesyri to steer it into the empty net for 3-0.
If there is a saving grace for United, it is that they remain on course to secure a Champions League place through a top-four finish in the Premier League.
But this defeat was a stark reminder they remain a work in progress under Ten Hag, despite the great strides made this season.
