Cristiano Ronaldo scored, inevitably, but despite his third goal in two appearances since his return to Manchester United they have suffered an opening day Champions League defeat.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
United only have themselves to blame as first Aaron Wan-Bissaka was sent off, then Jesse Lingard's backpass gifted Young Boys of Berne an injury-time winner
Ronaldo's 13th-minute goal followed a superb pass from Bruno Fernandes with the outside of his boot, Ronaldo opening his body to steer the cross first time through David von Ballmoos' legs.
It was the perfect start to his 177th Champions League appearance, matching the record set by former Real Madrid team mate Iker Casillas.
United looked comfortable until Wan-Bissaka was shown a red card for lunging into Christopher Martins in the 35th minute.
Young Boys exerted increasing pressure and levelled in the 66th minute when Nicolas Moumi Ngamaleu turned a right-wing cross past David De Gea. Despite being penned back United appeared to have held on for a point only for Jordan Siebatcheu to run onto Lingard's wayward pass and score with the last kick of the match.
"That's football, people make mistakes," United captain Harry Maguire said. "We're not blaming Jesse. I'm sure everyone on that pitch today has made a mistake. I'm sure Jesse will pick himself up.
"It's the first game in the group. We've got many games to bounce back and we must do. We'll try and pick up three points in our next game and build momentum from there."
The other early kick-off was a match of four penalties with hosts Salzburg awarded three, all given for first-half fouls on Karim Adeyemi. However, the German missed one while fellow teenager Luka Sucic scored one and missed one.
Ivan Rakitic equalised for Sevilla from their penalty in a frantic first period. The second half began in similar vein with Sevilla reduced to ten in the 50th-minute after Youssef En-Nesryi got his second booking for simulating a foul in the area. But that was the end of the drama.
Australian Associated Press