Manchester United boss Erik Ten Hag admitted that his team lacked the intent and fight after their 3-0 second-leg quarterfinal loss against Sevilla on Thursday night. United dominated the possession with 62% but could only take three shots on target.

Morocco’s Youssef En-Nesyri scored a brace for Sevilla whereas Loic Bade also found the back of the net for the Spanish club. The Red Devils could not come up with a collective show and it was a disappointing end to their campaign.

“I have to acknowledge [the lack of fight] it’s the truth, it’s hard, it’s tough, it’s the truth and it can’t be — it’s unacceptable,” Ten Hag told a news conference.

“We showed in the past we can quickly bounce back, we have done it many times this season but we have to start games better, more desire, more composure on the ball. When you get a setback you have to deal with it and carry on.

“Tonight we were not good enough. It was obvious, it was clear. We did not match the standards you can expect from a Manchester United team.”

Meanwhile, Harry Maguire and David de Gea made costly errors, which led to the team’s downfall. However, the Dutchman defended his goalkeeper despite the error.

“He’s the one with the most clean sheets in the Premier League, that shows he’s a very capable goalkeeper,” he said.

Manchester United will face Brighton on Sunday in the FA Cup semifinal and they will need to pull themselves up. Subsequently, they take on Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday night next week in a bid to finish among the top four in the Premier League.

The United manager said: “I already started but we have to pick them up. We also have to face that we let ourselves down, we let the fans down. If you want to win trophies, if you want to be successful, you need character.”