'The best team lost!' - Maguire rues Man United's Europa League exit

Harry Maguire lamented the fact that ‘the best team lost’ as Manchester United crashed out of Europa League against Sevilla on Sunday.

Hopes of lifting a first trophy as Manchester United captain ended on Sunday for Maguire, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side lost 2-1 to Sevilla in the semi-finals.

The center-back had a disappointing performance of his own in Cologne. He did ok against Youssef En-Nesyri, but was partly responsible for failing to stop both crosses that led to Sevilla’s match-winning goals. It brought a low-key end to an otherwise superb campaign.

Bruno Fernandes’ early penalty had put United in front in Germany. However, Suso equalized before the Red Devils wasted a host of early chances in the second-half. Luuk de Jong then came off the bench to score Sevilla’s winner 12 minutes from time.

“It’s difficult,” Maguire told BT Sport after United suffered their third semi-final exit of a cup competition this season.

“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 added: “We conceded from two crosses which is not good enough.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.

“We have a good group of lads. Losing is not acceptable. Getting to semi-finals isn’t acceptable. Improvement made this year is massive. We played a good Sevilla team – another day we win it. Losing is not acceptable for this club.”