Facundo Pellistri gives the right response to encouragement from Manchester United teammate

The Real Betis fans chanted “Sí se puede” – yes we can. No, they could not. Manchester United are not the latest team to clutch defeat from the jaws of victory in a European knockout.

Instead, United will approach Easter with the possibility of their museum requiring at least one more plinth at the end of the season. The Europa League is a competition United have no intention of participating in next term yet a second triumph would secure seeding in the Champions League group stage.

The travelling followers safely sang about Roy Keane, Jaap Stam and Andy Cole early in the second half, a sure sign they were certain the contest was over. Marcus Rashford soon made sure of that, banishing a sloppy 55 minutes with a splendid piledriver to break the deadlock.

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With nine fixtures on the calendar in April and a 4-1 aggregate advantage, this was a logical opportunity for Erik ten Hag to rotate the United side having largely eschewed rotation. Facundo Pellistri finally started.

The bigger match this week is Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final with Fulham and Raphael Varane and Luke Shaw at least earned a breather. Bruno Fernandes avoided suspension for the quarter-final first leg and so did Casemiro, who will not be on the pitch again until April 13.

It is a quirk of the draw that the play-off with Barcelona seems certain to be remembered as United's most uproarious night in Europe this term. Raphael Varane was never going to approach the few thousand supporters who stood in the third tier of the Estadio Benito Villamarin for a victory parade as he did at Old Trafford three weeks ago.

Having waited 827 days just to debut, Pellistri's first start came 892 days on from when United announced