Harry Maguire and David de Gea snubbed media after Man United loss at Sevilla

David de Gea and Harry Maguire walked out of the Estadio Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan together late on Thursday night, declining an invitation to speak to the waiting media. It felt like a show of solidarity or maybe just safety in numbers.

De Gea and Maguire were the main protagonists in Manchester United's shambolic Europa League exit to Sevilla, and there is no doubt they must accept their fair share of the blame over the two ties that ended with a 5-2 aggregate defeat.

Maguire's unfortunate own-goal at Old Trafford allowed the Spaniards to level at 2-2. He and De Gea were equally culpable for gifting Sevilla an early goal in the second leg on Thursday, and the United goalkeeper blundered again for the third.

But De Gea and Maguire can't be allowed to carry the can for United's capitulation, even though it may have implications for their futures at the club.

Erik ten Hag certainly won't be so short-sighted and others will pay the price for their abject failure in Andalusia. It was on a par with United's defeats to Brentford, Manchester City and Liverpool under Ten Hag this season and, as such, cannot be dismissed as a freak result or performance.

It emerged on Friday that up to 17 players could be sacrificed this summer as the Ten Hag revolution moves onto its next phase. In that sense, what happened in Seville on Thursday night played right into the manager's hands.

Here again was graphic proof of just how far United have to go.

It has been clear for some time that Maguire does not fit the mould of centre back that Ten Hag requires: a multi-functional defender with pace and technical ability to play out from the back. But Thursday felt like the night when any doubts that he needs to move on fell away.

It wasn't Maguire's fault that De Gea played a short-pass to him on the edge of the box when he should have gone long in the eighth minute, but from the moment the ball reached the United captain it was clear he was in big trouble.

Erik Lamela intercepted Maguire's pass, Youssef En-Nesyri scored and a memorable Sevilla victory was beginning to take shape.

Maguire looked vulnerable and not for the first time this season.

He is a solid, conventional centre back but has never looked comfortable in Ten Hag's system.

The Dutchman has preferred Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane – both currently sidelined through injury – and even plays left back Luke Shaw ahead of Maguire in the middle. Shaw is set to partner Victor Lindelof in Sunday's FA Cup semi-final against Brighton at Wembley when Maguire is suspended.

At the age of 30, Maguire needs regular first-team football. He is still good enough for the Premier League and England, but he needs to leave United.

His demotion to the bench for large parts of the season has become an awkward issue for the player and his manager.

De Gea is a slightly different matter. United would like to keep him but want De Gea to take a considerable cut on his £375,000-a-week wages. The two sides are still well apart on figures and it appears United are in no hurry to raise their offer.

What happened at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan only hardened the view that De Gea is not comfortable with the ball at his feet. It won't necessarily spell the end for the 32-year-old at United, but it will hardly inspire the club to fight harder to keep him.

The main issue for United is how much it would cost to replace De Gea when they already have other plenty of other areas in the team that need strengthening.

Ten Hag's rebuilding programme means there are question marks over the likes of Anthony Martial, Lindelof, Scott McTominay, Fred, Donny van de Beek and Aaron Wan-Bissaka. It's been clear for some time that more obvious candidates like Phil Jones, Eric Bailly, Axel Tuanzebe and Alex Telles – a late substitute for Sevilla against United on Thursday – will be on their way.

More troubling for Ten Hag may be the performances of Casemiro, Christian Eriksen and Jadon Sancho in Spain. They are very much part of his plans at United and not one player emerged from the debacle with a shred of credit.

There is still an opportunity to make amends by beating Brighton to reach the FA Cup final. United already have the Carabao Cup and there is no doubting the progress made under Ten Hag this season.

But there have been plenty of setbacks too and what happened in Seville was another one. It was a blow for Ten Hag but he will use it to justify a cull of stars this summer.