Sevilla 0-0 Manchester United: 5 Talking Points

Scoreline: Sevilla 0-0 Manchester United

Manchester United cramped Sevilla down to a goalless draw at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium to let the fate of the tie rest entirely on the second leg fixture at Old Trafford.

Vincenzo Montella's men had the best chances on the night, no doubt, but United did just about enough to give the scorers a day off, thanks to Sevilla's wastefulness and the inevitable heroics of David de Gea.

It was all rather scrappy in midfield as the ref couldn't afford to let his whistle rest even for a twinkling as the game moved from one stoppage to the next.

Jose Mourinho should be the happier of the two managers and will be looking to seal the deal at the Theatre of Dreams next month.

Here are the 5 talking points from the game.

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#5 Scott delivers and Dave saves

Just de Gea being de Gea

Jose Mourinho did not exactly sound pleased by Paul Pogba's absence in the weekend FA Cup tie against Huddersfield and chose to go with Scott McTominay, Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera in the centre of the park.

In arguably the biggest game yet of his fledgeling career, McTominay did not look out of place and put in a solid shift. It shouldn't be soft-pedalled for he was expected to be under pressure thanks to the ominous atmosphere away from home and the gravitas of the fixture.

Scott even let one rip with his left-foot from 25 yards out and forced a save from Rico to register United's first shot on goal of the night. If he kicks on in the same vein, it won't be long before Pogba finally gets to be the man who gets freed up in the midfield 3 to cause the kind of trouble he has only gifted us teasers of this season.

And then there is David de Gea. It's a bit baffling that the Sevilla players were taking him on from outside the area when they couldn't beat him from 6 yards out. de Gea is an army by himself and though it's not much of a task cutting past the likes of Chris Smalling, the attackers need to keep in mind that the job is not even half done.

Here he was, once again sending the United faithful into fits of wonder by reaching out and clawing at definite goalbound strikes and keeping Jose's crew in the game. His saves off Vazquez, Nzonzi and Muriel were straight out of the top drawer and he was perhaps United's best player on the night.

One of the very best there has ever been? I'd think so.

#4 Montella missed a trick by not playing Ben Yedder

Sevilla could have really used Ben Yedder

Ben Yedder has scored 6 Champions League goals this season and yet his duty on the night was restricted to warming the bench as Muriel kept bottling it in front of goal.

"Benyebut" as he is called (which is the French word for 'goal'), the 27-year-old is responsible for 50% of Sevilla's goal in Europe's elite competition this season and it was disheartening to see him not been given a chance to flummox United's defensive line led by Chris Smalling who looked at sixes and sevens for major parts of the game.

In fact, it took Montella 83 minutes to make his first change of the night even though Sevilla's chances had dwindled to a trickle by then.

Muriel did force de Gea to a couple of saves but really should have done more with the chances that he got.

Los Blanquirrojos will definitely need to be sharper in front of goal when they travel to Manchester next month and the fans will be hoping that their main man up front will feature.

#3 Manchester United's defensive problems on display yet again

United's defenders looked shaky from the get-go

As soon as the starting lineups were out and it was clear that Eric Bailly will not be starting, it was obvious that a solid defensive display could hardly be a feature.

United started with Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof at the centre of defence with Valencia on the right and Ashley Young on the left. Luke Shaw did not even find a spot on the bench.

Valencia was often left to guess where Correa would be headed but he was up to the task more often than not. Ashley Young was decent on the night but couldn't offer anything going forward.

Victor Lindelof almost tricked his own goalkeeper when he feigned inside the box to let the ball roll out of safety expecting to confuse Vazquez. But instead, even de Gea couldn't figure out what exactly was on the Swede's mind and 15 seconds later, the United no.1 had to make the save of the game to deny the hosts from 6 yards out.

Chris Smalling is simply not confident on the ball. He hardly ever looks for a forward pass and he panics the second he sees an attacker running at him. However, in a match where United conceded more than a dozen corners, Smalling and Lindelof cleaned up pretty well to ensure the score stayed at nil-nil.

That said, United desperately need the grit and moxie of a certain Eric Bailly who seems set to get back into the thick of things.

#2 Inconsistent showings upfront cost Sevilla a much-needed home victory

Sevilla's end product was simply not good enough

Sevilla moved the ball about with intent and confidence and they constantly pegged United's defenders on the backfoot. But they couldn't make anything of the gilt-edged chances their attackers were afforded, especially in the first half.

Luis Muriel had a rather forgettable night as he missed the best chance of the night from 6 yards away, albeit thanks to some great goalkeeping from David de Gea.

Correa was a menace on the left flank with his nifty footwork and stepovers but his decision making and final ball left a lot to be desired. Often, he ignored the runs of his teammates as he cut into the area and chose to go for goal himself when his teammates were in much better positions than him to score.

Franco Vazquez was impressive on the night but even he couldn't deliver the goods in the attacking third as Sevilla kept pushing for the goal that would tip the tie in their favour.

Pablo Sarabia and Jesus Navas put in decent shifts and did not let either Alexis Sanchez or his replacement Marcus Rashford use their pace to break on the counter to embark upon a smash & grab gig that is quite characteristic of this United side.

To put things into perspective, Sevilla had 24 shots out of which 8 were on target and their profligacy in front of goal might just come back to bite them as they face the arduous task of putting one over on their opponents at Old Trafford.

Montella had said before the game that his team are ruthless in front of goal and they proved to be anything but. Let's hope for their sake they will be so in the second leg or that will probably be the last we see of this entertaining side for a year and a half in the Champions League.

#1 The Pogba-Sanchez problem and the isolation of Romelu Lukaku

Lukaku caused trouble with his running but was often isolated upfront

Paul Pogba was introduced into the game as early as the 17th minute when Ander Herrera pulled his hamstring and was forced to call it a night. But Pogba the world beater of a player that he is, looked a mere shadow of himself for the greater part of the game.

Sanchez often tracked back and was constantly trying to carry the ball out from the back. But with options available in the centre in the form of Pogba and McTominay, Sanchez often preferred to boot the ball forward to find Lukaku by bypassing the midfield.

His efforts almost bore fruit but Lukaku skied from inside the area after being found in space by a delightful dinked ball from the Chilean.

Sergio Rico did not have a whole lot to do owing to the lack of cohesion in the United camp which saw most attacks come to nothing. Juan Mata made a few good runs but couldn't exert his influence on the game.

However, once Sanchez and Mata were withdrawn and Pogba was surrounded by the energy and relentless running of Martial and Rashford, the Frenchman looked a different player. His quick turns were there from the moment he was introduced, but all of a sudden, he was supplementing them with well-weighted dinked balls and some effective box-to-box shuttling.

Pogba's lobbed ball into the area was finished off by Lukaku but the goal was disallowed as the Belgian trapped the ball using his arm before sending it past Rico.

Pogba and Sanchez are undoubtedly two of United's best individual players at the moment. But that is simply not enough as we have seen over the past month. They need to form an understanding between each other as right now they look like two trains that embark in two different directions from the same darn railway station.

Jose Mourinho needs to work out a blueprint or this could end up being one of those What Coulda been stories no fan would like to recollect.