Nemanja Matic says Manchester United have 'no excuse' for Champions League exit to Sevilla

Two second-half goals from substitute Wissam Ben Yedder knocked United out

Nemanja Matic believes Manchester United can have “no excuse” for their shock elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Sevilla on Tuesday night.

Two second-half goals from substitute Wissam Ben Yedder in the space of four minutes punished United for a drab and incoherent display that could not be rescued by Romelu Lukaku’s late consolation.

Jose Mourinho, who claimed he had “no regrets” about his side’s performance or his own tactical approach, must not wait at least another year to re-establish United among European football’s elite.

Matic conceded that Sevilla earned their place in last eight with their performance over the two legs and called for his team-mates to bounce back ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup sixth round meeting with Brighton and Hove Albion.

“Of course, we are not happy because we are out of the Champions League,” Matic said. “But this is football, we have to accept it and to focus on the next game, which is very important also for us, in the FA Cup.”

“We focus also for the league, but we have to say congratulations to the team, Sevilla. They played really well, and they deserved to go through.”

When asked whether United’s exertions in their 2-1 victory over Liverpool at the weekend had affected, Matic insisted: “There is no excuse. There is no excuse. We had a big game, as you know, against Liverpool. We won.

“With high confidence we come to play this game, but today they played better than us and they deserved [to win].”

The Serbian midfielder added: "We have to forget this. We have to see made mistakes, to see what we have to do better and on Saturday is a new game.

“Life goes on and this is football, we have to accept that.”