UEL: Man United boss Amorim plays down war of words between Onana and Matic

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim played down the war of words between Andre Onana and Nemanja Matic ahead of the Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final first leg with Olympique Lyon at the Groupama Stadium, Afrosport reports.

Onana speaking ahead of the game said the Red Devils were a better team than Les Gones, to which Matic, who played for United between 2017 and 2022, called the Cameroon shot stopper one of the worst goalkeepers in the history of the club.

Amorim however stated that Onana was being misquoted and does not believe there is any form of disrespect between the two players.

“If you see the full quote of Andre Onana, it’s quite different [to what was reported]. The first sentence is, Lyon is a very, very good team,” the Portuguese said.

“So I think sometimes the players don’t listen, or the coaches don’t listen to the full quotes and sometimes it’s just a misunderstanding. And I know Matic also, he’s a great guy. So tomorrow is going to be a normal game.”

Amorim further added: “It’s really hard to deal with that. And again, if you look to all the quotes, you cannot see disrespect there (from Onana towards Lyon). Just respect but (also) trying to give confidence and to show confident in his team, especially in this year.

“So everybody can talk bad things about Manchester United. Sometimes our group as players, as the coach, as the staff, has to show some confidence in our team.

“So, I think that’s all. And again, I know really well Nemanja Matic and how good guy he is. So he hears somethings by half, not the whole story. So that for me is clear in this situation.”