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Jose Mourinho's "safety first" game-plan was exposed by Sevilla as Wissam Ben Yedder's late double sent Manchester United crashing out of the Champions League.
The United manager, who named Paul Pogba on the bench for both legs of this round-of-16 tie, refused to alter his cautious approach for the second-leg despite needing to score after the goalless first-leg in Spain three weeks ago. His negative tactics were ultimately undone by Sevilla coach Vincenzo Montella, whose second-half tactical switch, introducing substitute Ben Yedder for Luis Muriel, prove the decisive moment in the game.
United struggled to get a foothold throughout the 90 minutes, with Sevilla dominating possession and creating the clearer chances. The Old Trafford supporters, unhappy with the failure to take the game to Sevilla, began to chant for greater attacking urgency even before the half-time whistle.
But with Pogba and Juan Mata left on the bench until midway through the second half, United posed little threat to Sevilla and Ben Yedder's double proved enough to win the game, despite Romelu Lukaku's late strike.
Marouane Fellaini has silenced his critics during his five years at Manchester United, but when handed his first start since November for a crucial Champions League second-leg tie, it sums up precisely where the team is right now under Mourinho.
Fellaini always does a job but is a limited player, one who will only make a team more negative in its approach. Mourinho's decision to start the Belgium midfielder was perhaps understandable on the basis that the United manager needed somebody to nullify the threat of Sevilla's own towering midfielder, Steven N'Zonzi.
When Mourinho selects Fellaini ahead of the likes of Pogba or Mata, it says everything about the manager's approach and his reluctance to trust his flair players in a finely-balanced European fixture. With Pogba and Mata, Mourinho only sees risk and defensive shortcomings but Fellaini is his insurance policy at set-pieces and in direct battle against aggressive opponents.
A stronger United team, or bolder manager, would pick Pogba or Mata and take the game to Sevilla, attempting to cut N'Zonzi out by keeping the ball on the pitch and playing around him.
Neither Real Madrid nor Barcelona sidelined their attacking players to stifle N'Zonzi when facing Sevilla but Fellaini's selection was purely a result of the presence of the former Blackburn and Stoke player.
Fellaini would come nowhere close to getting into the best United teams but right now, Mourinho believes he needs him.
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