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.
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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.
Onana said that Manchester United are way better than Lyon and that they have to focus on themselves and show their winning mentality in the upcoming game. He expressed confidence in his team’s abilities and emphasized the importance of the match. However, Matic responded by pointing out Onana’s performance statistics and suggesting that he should focus on his own game before making such bold statements about his team’s superiority.