Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana has fired a thinly-veiled dig at Lyon midfielder Nemanja Matic as their war of words escalates ahead of Thursday’s Europa League meeting.
Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana has fired back at Lyon midfielder Nemanja Matic following the criticism directed his way by the Serbian star.
Matic slammed Onana earlier on Wednesday, terming him “one of the worst goalkeepers in Manchester United history” following comments from the Cameroon star regarding the French club ahead of their Europa League quarter-final meeting in France on Thursday.
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Onana has now responded in kind, reminding Matic that he has already clinched a piece of silverware in his less than two years at United while the Serbian left empty-handed in his five years at Old Trafford from 2017-2022.
“I would never be disrespectful to another club. We know that tomorrow will be a difficult game against a strong opponent,” Onana posted on X.
What has Andre Onana said?
“We focus on preparing a performance to make our fans proud. At least I’ve lifted trophies with the greatest club in the world. Some can’t say the same.”
Onana had started it when he claimed that United are a better team than Lyon despite being placed 13th in the Premier League while the French side are fifth in Ligue 1.
“We all know the importance of this game, so we will go there with a winning mentality. It’s not our best season, but we still have something big to win, so we will go for it,” Onana said early in the week.
“It’s a very good team; we know some of them, but I don’t think we have to focus about 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.”
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Nemanja Matic did not hold back
However, Matic responded with some scathing attack on Wednesday when asked what he thought of Onana’s comments.
“Onana said they’re way better than us? When you are one of the worst goalkeepers in Man United history, you need to take care what you’re talking about. If it was [Edwin] Van der Sar, [Peter] Schmeichel or [David] De Gea saying that, okay, but Onana, he’s one of the worst,” Matic said during a press conference on Wednesday.
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The war of words has added to the excitement ahead of the match on Thursday when Lyon will host United in the first leg, looking to take advantage of home support.
Both teams are looking to win the Europa League and earn a place in next season’s Champions League.