Paul Scholes insisted Manchester United badly missed Bruno Fernandes on Thursday night as they exited the Europa League at the hands of Sevilla.
The Reds crashed out of the Europa League after losing 5-2 on aggregate to six-time winners Sevilla, who secured their place in the semi-finals thanks to a 3-0 win in the second leg. Erik ten Hag's side had taken a commanding 2-0 lead in the first leg at Old Trafford last week, but they were pegged back by two own goals from Tyrell Malacia and Harry Maguire.
Sevilla dominated the second leg and made the mistake of another Maguire mistake to take the lead at half time. Things went from bad to worse as the home side extended their lead after the break when Loic Bade converted from close range. David de Gea, who also played a role in Sevilla's opening goal, then gifted the Spanish outfit a third when he misjudged a high through ball - allowing En-Nesyri to slot into an empty net.
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United were without Fernandes for the clash at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium, with the Portuguese ace suspended after receiving a harsh booking in the clash at Old Trafford last week. The 28-year-old's absence was felt and Scholes insisted other leaders should have stood up in his place.
"We missed Bruno tonight - Bruno is one player who can take the ball and control play at times, he’s been in fantastic form over the last three or four weeks," Scholes said on BT Sport. "He was a big miss but there are other leaders out there.
"This squad can handle a lot of games - Forest on Sunday, great, handled it really well - but when it comes to the crunch games with big atmospheres, it seems that they just fall short."
Discussing United's squad depth issues, the former United midfielder added: "I think it comes down to quality - just a real lack of quality. To be fair there wasn’t a lack of quality on the pitch, there were some good players on the pitch - Casemiro, Erisken - but then you have to go to a Weghorst.
"The quality just drops a level when these players aren’t fit. The injury to Martial and Marcus comes on, again he’s probably not trained as he would have liked and he was a little bit not quite there. Luke Shaw was sloppy on the ball, it was just a disastrous night from start to finish.
"We’ve had these nights throughout the season where it’s been a bit disastrous, but I still feel ten Hag is doing things right and we’re going in the right direction. This will help him summer-wise, he knows just by looking at that game tonight - even the first 20 minutes - he needs better players to fill the squad."
The Reds will have the chance to respond to their disappointing defeat when they face Brighton in the semi-finals of the FA Cup on Sunday.
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