Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho responded to his team’s round of 16 failure against Sevilla by pointing out that he’s personally defeated United on two separate occasions in the competition.

“I’ve sat in this chair twice before. With Porto – Manchester United out. With Real Madrid – Manchester United out,” Mourinho told reporters after the match, as quoted by Oliver Kay of the Times. “So this is nothing new for this football club.”

The Red Devils were dumped out of the competition Tuesday after conceding two away goals to Wissam Ben Yedder in quick succession, which Romelu Lukaku could not overturn despite his efforts in an eventual 2-1 defeat.

And indeed, Mourinho has twice orchestrated United’s elimination from Europe’s premier competition, having defeated the Red Devils in his inspired 2003-04 campaign with FC Porto, and with Real Madrid in the 2012-13 season.

The manager was otherwise unusually calm after the match, offering “tomorrow is another day.” With the iconic English outfit sitting 16 points behind Manchester City in the Premier League standings, he also pointed to Saturday’s tilt with Brighton as the new focus and defended his players’ performances.

“I think the first goal was always going to be important, not just because of the first leg result but also the profile of the match,” Mourinho told BT Sport after the match, as quoted by BBC Sport.

“We tried to be aggressive and intense from the first minute. We didn’t score and Sevilla progressively kept the ball, and they controlled the game well.

“We had good chances to score, but they scored one goal and from that moment everything became much more emotional. The second goal made it impossible.

“We had good periods, we didn’t have great control over the game, but I can’t say there was anything wrong with my players and their intention to play.

“That’s football, we lost, but tomorrow is another day and Saturday is another match.”

The mood at Manchester United’s Carrington base must have been euphoric after purloining Alexis Sanchez from under the nose of local foe City. The Premier League leader apparently had a financial package in place for the Arsenal forward’s transfer, but United sneaked in during the final days of the January window to wrest Sanchez from Pep Guardiola’s grasp.

Now, with the marquee swoop 10 matches old after Tuesday’s Champions League elimination to Sevilla, it seems a convenient juncture to assess Sanchez’s impact at Old Trafford. Has his arrival lifted United to a new level of competitiveness, or has it proved detrimental to both Jose Mourinho’s tactical plans and his front-line contingent?

Here’s a game-by-game analysis and conclusion of Sanchez’s efforts, starting with his debut in the FA Cup:

Jan. 26: 4-0 win vs. Yeovil Town (away)

The audiences at daytime TV shows are easily pleased. Each vanilla opinion aired by a panel member is met with a chorus of whoops. It seemed that viewing party was the only one to watch Sanchez’s debut at Huish Park, which was met with rave reviews. Yes, he evaded assaults of his kneecaps with class and was lively, but this was League Two struggler Yeovil. The hype was overblown. It was a kind initiation.

Rating: 8/10

Jan. 31: 2-0 loss vs. Tottenham Hotspur (away)

Tottenham, in the midst of an intimidating yet ultimately fruitful spate of fixtures, outclassed United at Wembley. Sanchez was strangely both busy and anonymous – finishing only second to Ashley Young in touches made by United players – but his difficult outing was mercifully obscured by the substitution of Paul Pogba after just over an hour.

Rating: 5/10

Feb. 3: 2-0 win vs. Huddersfield Town (home)

The best player on the park. Jonas Lossl did well to swat at Sanchez’s penalty with a strong right palm, but the Chilean gobbled up the scraps with a composed chip over the beached goalkeeper. His dribbling was majestic, with one right-footed shot coming after an excellent pilfering of space. The only blemish on his work was a yellow card for a petulant swipe at Florent Hadergjonaj.

Rating: 9/10

Feb. 11: 1-0 loss vs. Newcastle United (away)

Sanchez was arguably the best of a bad bunch in Newcastle, but he still fell victim to a well-drilled outfit. He misplaced over a third of his passes at St James’ Park, and only hit one shot on target despite being invitingly selected opposite DeAndre Yedlin. This was the first match that drew real questions over how Sanchez would fit in at United; Anthony Martial was awkwardly deployed on the right, and it was difficult to envision a prompt return to the lineup for sidelined Marcus Rashford.

Rating: 6/10

Feb. 17: 2-0 win vs. Huddersfield Town (away)

Huddersfield was starting to take control as the break neared, and Sanchez was worryingly fading into the background. But you can’t leave him untended, and his stunning pass to Romelu Lukaku doubled United’s advantage 10 minutes into the second period. It was a merciless counter-attack. The following day, The Sun’s Mike McGrath tried to make a link between Pogba’s apparent struggles and the signing of Sanchez.

Rating: 7/10

Feb. 21: 0-0 draw vs. Sevilla (away)

The main criticism levelled at Sanchez is how he can be careless in possession, but even when he was at his worst for this habit – see his first meeting with Huddersfield – his bobbled touches were masked by his other exploits. When he lost the ball at Sevilla, however, it continually ended rare chances to attack. It was a dull match, and Sanchez was a “liability in possession,” according to the Manchester Evening News’ Samuel Luckhurst, who gave the player a four-out-of-10 rating.

Rating: 6/10

Feb. 25: 2-1 win vs. Chelsea (home)

Sanchez was shunted to the right to accommodate for Martial’s selection on the left in Chelsea’s visit. He missed a good chance to register on the scoresheet in the opening stanza, but played two probing passes and harried Blues players in the buildup to Lukaku’s equaliser. Although that was the bulk of Sanchez’s productivity on the day, he was less wasteful with the ball.

Rating: 6/10

March 5: 3-2 win vs. Crystal Palace (away)

Sanchez courted criticism once more as United overturned a 2-0 deficit to dramatically win 3-2 at Selhurst Park. The Daily Mail’s Dan Ripley claimed Sanchez lost the ball 19 times in the first half alone, but the MEN’s Luckhurst said it eventually turned into “maybe his best performance since his debut at League Two Yeovil.” Was that a back-handed compliment? If Sanchez wanted to temporarily silence any doubters, the following match against Liverpool offered an opportune moment.

Rating: 6/10

March 10: 2-1 win vs. Liverpool (home)

It was the same old story as Sanchez buzzed around and seemed to enjoy working behind Lukaku, but provided little to suggest Jesse Lingard or the injured Martial wouldn’t have enjoyed greater influence in the win over Liverpool. Mourinho offered excuses for Sanchez in the buildup to the game, claiming his signing was unsettled by joining in the middle of the campaign and saying, “he is learning how to play with us and we are learning how to get the best out of him.”

Rating: 6/10

March 13: 2-1 loss vs. Sevilla (home)

After being widely credited for his tactical approach against Liverpool, Mourinho’s designs unravelled against Sevilla. Rashford played so well on the left against Liverpool, but was shoved to the right so Sanchez could play on his favoured left-hand side. It was a flat showing, and he repeatedly went on head-down charges into dead ends. Once again, Sanchez’s ineffectiveness will be largely obscured by the issues elsewhere, such as Mourinho’s decision to start Marouane Fellaini over Pogba.

Rating: 4/10

How has Sanchez done in his first 10 matches?

The comments (or, indeed, excuses) that Mourinho made for Sanchez’s slow start prior to the win over Liverpool were entirely apt. It must be difficult to adopt the philosophy of a different manager and at a different club halfway through the campaign, especially when things often appeared so lax under Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.

But for a player of Sanchez’s pedigree and salary – he’s apparently on around £350,000 a week – shouldn’t he be able to influence more than two of his opening 10 matches? Sanchez’s numbers don’t reflect his ability and work ethic, and if there aren’t any discernible improvements from him next season he will only be pardoned by Mourinho for so long.

Maybe there’s an argument that Sanchez simply doesn’t suit Mourinho’s game plan. The Chilean regularly played like an individual at Arsenal, but at Manchester United he is being moulded into another tool tasked with sitting deep and preying on opposition errors. Is this the right environment for Sanchez to thrive?

Rating: 6.3/10

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

The birthday gift that Jim Pallotta wanted most was delivered at the Stadio Olimpico just before 10 p.m. local time. Roma’s president, who turned 60 years old on Tuesday, was not there in person to receive it, but you can be sure he was following along somewhere as Edin Dzeko slipped behind the Shakhtar Donetsk defence, running onto a beautiful pass from Kevin Strootman, and dispatching it into the corner of the net.

This was the 500th goal that Roma had scored since Pallotta took charge in the summer of 2012, and undoubtedly one of the most significant. It gave the Giallorossi an aggregate advantage over Shakhtar Donetsk with fewer than 40 minutes left to play in their Champions League last-16 clash. It was enough to seal a 1-0 win on the night, and victory by away goals in the two-legged tie.

In purely monetary terms, this was a lavish birthday treat. Qualification to the quarter-finals will earn Roma upward of €10 million between prize money, broadcast revenue, and additional gate receipts. For a club that posted losses of more than €40 million on last season’s accounts, and which has been working to avoid further Financial Fair Play sanctions from UEFA, that is no small change.

Yet this triumph meant far more to Roma than could be explained by a mere balance sheet. The Giallorossi had not reached the quarter-finals of this competition for a decade. Indeed, they have only gone so far on three previous occasions in the entire 62-year history of the European Cup.

This is not a team suffering from any delusions about its standing in the continental pecking order. Ahead of last month’s first leg, club captain Daniele De Rossi observed that there were “two or three teams in this season’s Champions League against whom, in all probability, we would already be beaten before kick-off.”

Shakhtar, though, was not one of them. The Ukrainians had performed excellently in this year’s competition, eliminating a Napoli team that currently sits 14 points ahead of Roma in Serie A. Napoli had won three out of four previous head-to-heads with the Giallorossi in this competition, too. But they were not Barcelona, Manchester City, or Real Madrid. Roma knew that this was a team it was capable of beating.

And if not now, then when? How long might Roma have to wait before its next such amenable draw in the Champions League knock-out phase? Yes, the team had earned the right to play one of the group stage runners-up, by finishing top of its own pool. But so had Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain, and Besiktas, who were rewarded with ties against powerhouses Juventus, Madrid, and Bayern Munich, respectively.

Even to get back this far next season is far from assured. Roma occupies third place in Serie A for now, but the competition is fierce with Lazio, AC Milan, and Internazionale all effectively fighting for two Champions League places behind Juventus and Napoli.

The reality is, furthermore, that even with the additional income generated by reaching the quarter-finals, Roma will likely have to sell at least one important member of its starting XI at the end of this season to balance the books. Last summer, Mohamed Salah and Antonio Rudiger both departed. Next could be Dzeko, or perhaps the goalkeeper Alisson.

It is up to the sporting director, Monchi, to ensure that such departures are offset by fresh talent coming in. But it is up to the players that Roma already has to deliver on their potential in such time as they have together.

They did so here, despite a cautious start and a nervy finish. Credit is due to the manager, Eusebio Di Francesco, for reassuring his team that there was no need to panic if the goal that it needed after losing the first leg 2-1 did not arrive right away.

Roma has built its Champions League run first and foremost on the reliability of its defending at home. The team is yet to concede a goal at the Olimpico in this year’s tournament, despite having hosted Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, and now this Shakhtar team overflowing with Brazilian attacking talent. Roma did not wobble here until the very end, allowing the visitor a pair of half-chances in injury time. Even then, Alisson never had to make a save.

There were times in the first half when Roma’s lack of attacking impetus felt frustrating. Di Francesco, though, was right to trust that Dzeko would find a way.

The Bosnian remains a peculiarly underappreciated player – the only man to have scored more than 50 goals in three of Europe’s top five leagues (Serie A, Premier League, and Bundesliga) and yet is never truly talked about as one of Europe’s elite forwards. Perhaps that is because he had never before gone beyond the last-16 of the continent’s elite competition.

He was nerveless when his opportunity arrived here, needing just one touch to beat Andriy Pyatov. Dzeko was a constant thorn in Shakhtar’s side for the rest of the game, too, almost adding a second from the edge of the box and then coaxing Ivan Ordets into a red card when he got goal-side of the defender with just over 10 minutes remaining.

His hold-up play, furthermore, helped Roma to keep the ball away from Shakhtar’s own frightening forwards. After serving Pallotta with such a generous birthday gift, he could not allow the occasion to be spoiled by some unwelcome party guest.