Andre Onana responds to 'one of the worst goalkeepers in Manchester United history' Nemanja Matic claim
Updated 09/04/2025 at 17:49 GMT+1
Speaking ahead of Lyon's UEFA Europa League tie with Manchester United, former Red Devil Nemanja Matic reflected on his time at Old Trafford, where he spent five years without winning any silverware. Ahead of the game, he also called Andre Onana "one of the worst goalkeepers" in Man Utd history in a heated exchange following comments made by the Cameroonian, who hit back with a fiery response.
‘One of the worst goalkeepers in Man Utd history’ – Matic’s brutal response to Onana claim
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Nemanja Matic has called Andre Onana "one of the worst goalkeepers in Manchester United's modern history" as he hit back at comments made by the shotstopper.
Onana claimed that Man Utd were "way better" than their French counterparts Lyon ahead of their upcoming UEFA Europa League quarter-final on Thursday, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
And former Red Devil Matic did not take too kindly to the comments in an astonishing pre-match rant.
"Onana. I respect everyone, but to say that, then you need to give an answer," he said.
"If you are one of the worst goalkeepers in Man Utd history, you need to take care what you are talking.
"If David De Gea or Peter Schmeichel or [Edwin] Van der Sar said that, then I would question myself, but if you are one of, statistically, the worst goalkeepers in Man United modern history, then he needs to show that before he says, so we will see."
Onana swiftly responded to Matic's comments with a dig of his own.
"I would never be disrespectful to another club," he wrote on social media. "We know that tomorrow will be a difficult game against a strong opponent. 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."
Speaking of trophies, earlier Matic claimed that they "were not the focus" during his time at Man Utd, who were more "commercial-minded".
The Lyon midfielder left Chelsea to join The Red Devils in 2017 and spent five years at Old Trafford.
In his time there, he played 189 times but failed to land any silverware, unlike his time at Chelsea, where he won the Premier League twice, the FA Cup and the League Cup.
Ahead of his reunion with Man Utd, Matic spoke about the mindset around the club at the time he played for them.
"We did our best every single year, the players, the coaches, but we didn't win," he said.
"If I compare how we did with United now, then we did great, but of course, United cannot be happy finishing second.
"United need to be winning leagues. We gave it our best and sometimes we'd get criticised, but I didn't see any major problems in the club. The organisation was very good, the conditions perfect."
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Matic, who has since played for AS Roma and Rennes as well as Lyon since leaving England, compared his time in Manchester to that of his days in west London.
"The difference I felt after Chelsea was that, at Chelsea, everything was about the result and winning trophies," he said.
"That was the spirit in the whole club, even from the man who cuts the grass. Roman Abramovich would only ask us about results.
"At United, it was more commercial-minded. I started to think that after a couple of months in the club.
"I understand that our salary needs to be paid, but I felt that the results were not the focus like it was at Chelsea. I maybe did two commercial jobs at Chelsea, at United it was far more.
"I arrived at United with the anger to win trophies like I had at Chelsea, but step by step I started to feel that trophies were not the focus. Maybe I'm not right, but that was my feeling inside."
Fast-forward to the present day, and Man Utd currently sit 13th in the Premier League and with nothing else but the Europa League to play for, the Lyon clash is a huge tie for Ruben Amorim's side.
United travel to France for the first leg of the quarter-final on Thursday, before welcoming Paulo Fonseca's side to Old Trafford next week.
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How to watch Lyon v Man Utd
Lyon take on United on Thursday, April 10, at Groupama Stadium, with the game kicking off at 20:00 BST.
You can watch the game on TNT Sports 1 and discovery+, with coverage starting from 19:45 BST.
TNT Sports is available across all major TV platforms, offering a line-up of up to four TV channels (TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports 3, TNT Sports 4), and up to six digital or red-button channels (TNT Sports 5 to 10), and TNT Sports Ultimate plus TNT Sports Box Office HD.
You can subscribe to TNT Sports through discovery+, BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.
To find out where your local establishments showing TNT Sports are, use our Pub Finder tool.
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