Five Talking Points From Seville

ManUtd.com's Gemma Thompson looks back on some of the main talking points from Manchester United's Champions League visit to Seville...

REDS HAVE EDGE BUT WORK TO DO
While not snatching an away goal will be a source of frustration for Jose Mourinho and his players, keeping a clean sheet against a lively and attacking Sevilla side, thanks in the main to David De Gea's heroics, can definitely be seen as a positive. Romelu Lukaku did have the ball in the back of the net for the Reds but the referee had already blown for handball against the Belgian. The tie will now be decided at Old Trafford and, while United will be slight favourites as the hosts, there is still plenty of work to be done to ensure we progress.

DAVE SAVES
Dave Saves goes the saying and, back in his homeland, De Gea was once again in imperious form. Coming into this match, he had recorded five clean sheets in his last seven Champions League outings and he kept Sevilla at bay almost single-handedly in the first period, beating away efforts from Luis Muriel and Joaquin Correa (twice), before making two astonishing point-blank saves in the space of 60 seconds on the stroke of half-time. He continues to show why he is quite simply the best goalkeeper in the business and it’s a privilege to watch him in action week in, week out.

McTOMINAY’S MATURITY
Scott McTominay’s emergence and progress this season has been one of the highlights of the campaign, with the youngster earning plaudits from his manager, team-mates and fans alike. In Seville, he started what was arguably the biggest game of his fledgling career so far and, alongside Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba (initially it had been Ander Herrera), he did not look overawed or intimidated by the partisan atmosphere and high-pressure occasion. And he almost marked the occasion with a goal but was unlucky to see his 25-yard curling effort palmed away in the first half.

MIXED NEWS ON INJURIES
There was good and bad news on the injury front for the Reds as Pogba, Herrera, Marcus Rashford and Antonio Valencia, who all missed the Emirates FA Cup win at Huddersfield, returned to action. However, Herrera only lasted 17 minutes after signalling to the bench that he couldn’t continue, due to what looked like a hamstring injury. He was replaced by Pogba, who was forced to sit out the cup win due to illness, while Rashford also came on late on. Valencia completed the full 90 minutes as skipper.

THREE WEEKS TO WAIT
It’s been 11 weeks since we were last in Champions League action and we’ve got to wait another three for the second leg of this last 16 tie now. As mentioned earlier, the goalless draw in Seville might give United the slight edge, but we have a couple of huge games before that, with Chelsea and Liverpool to come at Old Trafford first. Whether the results in those games have any kind of effect on our follow-up meeting with Sevilla remains to be seen, but the Old Trafford faithful will do their utmost to ensure the atmosphere at the Theatre of Dreams matches that in the first leg and can spur United to victory and a place in the last eight.