Ruben Amorim says the spat between Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana and Lyon’s Nemanja Matic ahead of the Europa League quarter-final tie between the two sides is all a “misunderstanding”.
Amorim’s side travel to the Groupama Stadium for the first leg of this make-or-break clash knowing the competition offers their only route to silverware and continental qualification.
Former United midfielder Matic branded Onana “one of the worst goalkeepers in Man Utd’s history” after the Cameroon international had said he felt United are “way better” than Lyon.
Matic’s jaw-dropping comments were followed by a pointed post on X by Onana nodding to the fact that United did not win a trophy in the midfielder’s five seasons at Old Trafford.
Matic hit back at Onana’s comment that Manchester United are a better team than Lyon ahead of their Europa League clash. Onana then responded on X saying: ‘At least I’ve lifted trophies’
The tete-a-tete was a key talking point at United’s pre-match press conference, where Matic’s former Benfica team-mate Amorim attempted to diffuse tension and provide context.
“Tomorrow [Thursday] it will not matter,” the head coach said. “If you see the full quote of Andre Onana, it’s quite different.
“The first sentence is Lyon is a very, very good team, so I think sometimes the players or coaches don’t listen to the full quotes.
“Sometimes it’s just a misunderstanding and I know Matic also. He’s a great guy. It is going to be a normal game.”
Amorim confirmed Onana will start at Lyon despite Altay Bayindir’s return to fitness and believes the 29-year-old, signed from Inter Milan in 2023, will find the commotion around his comments uncomfortable.
“It’s really hard to deal with that,” he said.
“That is for sure. Again, if you look at the quotes, you cannot see disrespect there. Just respect but trying to give confidence and to show confidence in his team, especially in this year.
“So, everybody can talk bad things about Manchester United. Sometimes our group as a player, as a coach, as a staff, has to show some confidence in our team. I think that’s all.
“Again, I know really well Nemanja Matic and how good a guy he is. He hears some things by half, not the whole story. That for me is clear in this situation.”
What did Onana actually say about Lyon?
Onana was signed from Inter Milan for around £47m in the summer of 2023
Onana was in confident mood when he spoke to the press after keeping his ninth Premier League clean sheet of the season in Sunday’s drab derby draw with Manchester City.
Asked about Lyon ahead of Thursday’s quarter-final first leg, he said: “It’s a very good team. We know some of them but I don’t think we have to focus on them. It’s more about us, what we’re going to do.
“I think we are better than them, we just have to go there and show who we are. If we go there with a winning mentality and we are focused, stay compact and together and we follow the game plan we will be winning the game.
“Of course, it’s not going to be easy, but I think we are way better than them. We all know the importance of this game, we will go there with the winning mentality, it’s not our best season but we still have something to win and we will go for it.”
Analysis: A jaw-dropping press conference exchange
Sky Sports News’ Melissa Reddy in Lyon:
It is a rare occurrence to be sat in a press conference, and be completely stunned – eyes as wide as the room itself, only competing with the stretch of your mouth and a long-held breath.
When Nemanja Matic began his response to Andre Onana’s assertion that Manchester United are “way better” than Lyon, it had a feel of Eminem’s “he didn’t just say what I think he did, did he?”
There were only two UK-based journalists present at the media briefing, Simon Peach from the PA and myself. When we looked around the room before Matic arrived, we thought it would be quite a low-key affair as the total number of journalists present was not in double digits.
Sky Sports reporter Melissa Reddy explains what happened between Matic and Onana with the help of journalist Simon Peach, the man whose questions prompted unexpected answers from both players!
We had a quick chat about what we thought we needed to ask Matic that hadn’t been covered in his recent interviews. He was Ruben Amorim’s team-mate at Benfica, and I wanted to explore that relationship and what traits the Portuguese had as a player that translated to coaching.
Simon was the journalist who had asked Onana what he was expecting from Lyon in the mixed zone on Sunday and understandably wanted to hear Matic’s response.
The expectation was the midfielder would simply say ‘we want to prove him wrong on the pitch’. Instead, Matic pulled a page out of Jose Mourinho’s playbook in an answer his former manager would afford a standing ovation.
Before he uttered a word, his face hinted at what was to come. Matic started answering the question… “To say that, you need to have cover for something like that.” Then, with a tone that screamed ‘seriously?’, he looked at Simon, and asked “Onana?,” before puffing his cheeks.
The knockout soon followed: “When you are one of the worst goalkeepers in Man Utd’s history, you need to take care with what you’re talking about… If De Gea, or Peter Schmeichel or Van der Sar say that, I will question myself but when you are statistically one of the worst goalkeepers in United’s modern history, you need to show up first before you say that.”
Matic did not flinch as he went in studs up, two-footed and off the ground. I was told afterwards that the Lyon team were already aware of the quote and it was providing dressing-room motivation.
Amorim opted for a long-range view of his team’s training ahead of their Europa League quarter-final against Lyon
Onana’s response, shared on X, had a zinger of a final line.
His quote on Sunday was more over optimistic and positive ahead of a huge game, rather than disrespectful. His social media post, however, was spicy.
Can he back it up on the pitch and will the game be as explosive?
Until we find out, I will be picking my jaw up off the floor.
