Raphael Varane’s injury and Lisandro Martinez’s season-ending injury have dealt Manchester United a significant setback.
First-choice center-backs for Erik ten Hag struggled in different ways during Thursday’s Europa League quarterfinal first-leg tie with Sevilla.
At Old Trafford, Varane was substituted with an unspecified injury at halftime. Martnez was carried off with a fractured metatarsal toward the end, which unfortunately rules him out for the entire season.
A club statement said: “Lisandro Martínez has been ruled out for the remainder of the season after fracturing a metatarsal bone in his foot. However, the Argentinian defender is expected to make a full recovery in time to be ready for the start of next season.”
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With nine games left, United are three points clear of Tottenham in fourth place and will play at Nottingham Forest on Sunday in the Premier League. They travel to Sevilla for the second leg on Thursday before facing Brighton in the FA Cup semifinal the following week.
For United to win the FA Cup and the Europa League, they must play a maximum of 15 games remaining. Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelöf, and Luke Shaw are Ten Hag’s options without Martnez and Varane; Casemiro has also played central defence for the manager this season.
Ten Hag will now be looking to find out new answers for an already fractured defence.