Onana 'one of United's worst goalkeepers' - Matic

Andre Onana (left) joined Manchester United in 2023, a year after Lyon midfielder Nemanja Matic (right) left Old Trafford.

Former Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic has labelled Andre Onana as "one of the worst goalkeepers in the club's history".

Serbian Matic, 36, was asked about Onana's comments from earlier this week that United were "way better" than French club Lyon as the two sides prepare to meet in the Europa League quarter-finals.

Speaking at Wednesday's news conference, Lyon's Matic, who played for United from 2017-2022, said: "You know, I respect everyone but to say that then you need to give the answer.

"If you are one of the worst goalkeepers in Man United's 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, then I would question myself. But you need to have cover to say something like that."

In reply to Matic, Onana then posted on social media to deny he was being disrespectful.

"I would never be disrespectful to another club. We know that tomorrow will be a difficult game against a strong opponent," Onana said on X.

"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."

Matic made 128 appearances for the Red Devils and joined Ligue 1 side Lyon in 2024 after spells at Rennes and Roma. He won the Premier League twice, plus the FA Cup and EFL Cup in a four-year spell at Chelsea.

Onana signed for £47.2m from Inter Milan in 2023 and has won the FA Cup at Old Trafford, keeping 23 clean sheets in 93 appearances.

The Europa League is the final opportunity for Ruben Amorim's side - currently 13th in the Premier League - to save a disappointing season.

Cameroon international Onana's initial comments came after Sunday's 0-0 draw against Manchester City, when he was confident despite describing Lyon as a "very good team".

"Of course, it's not going to be easy but I think we are way better than them," Onana said.

"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."

The first leg of the Europa League quarter-final takes place in Lyon at 20:00 BST on Thursday.

'Just a misunderstanding' - Amorim

United head coach Ruben Amorim has played down the situation and does not expect the comments from either player to impact Thursday's match.

"Tomorrow it will not matter," he 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. Tomorrow is going to be a normal game."

Amorim confirmed Onana will start at Lyon's Groupama Stadium and reiterated that he did not believe the goalkeeper meant to disparage the Ligue 1 side.

"It's really hard to deal with that," he said. "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.

"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 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."

How does Onana compare?

Onana succeeded David de Gea at Old Trafford after the Spaniard ended his 12-year stay at the club in July 2023.

De Gea, who is now at Fiorentina, was four-time United player of the year and twice won the Premier League Golden Glove, which is given to the keeper with most clean sheets.

He is fourth in the all-time Premier League clean sheet list with 147.

In total, he kept 190 clean sheets in 545 games and won the Premier League, FA Cup, two EFL Cups and Europa League.

His predecessor was Dutchman Edwin van der Sar who in a six-year spell at United won the Champions League, four Premier Leagues, Club World Cup and two League Cups.

He had a record of 135 clean sheets in 266 games and is tied for eighth on the Premier League's all-time clean sheet list with 132.

Prior to signing Van der Sar in 2005, United went through a number of goalkeepers as they searched for a long-term replacement for Peter Schmeichel.

Fabian Barthez, Tim Howard, Roy Carroll and Mark Bosnich all had stints as number one but while United won three league titles between 1999 and 2005, none of these fully convinced.

They had a very hard act to follow given Schmeichel's legendary status at a club where he played 398 times over eight seasons.

The Dane won five Premier Leagues, three FA Cups, one League Cup and a European Super Cup before signing off with the Champions League as part of a then unprecedented treble.

Onana did not make a list of the top goalkeepers in the world, published on Wednesday by the CIES Football Observatory Index.

CIES uses methodology to take into account the level of games played, the results of matches and the deviation in the percentage of saves at domestic league level compared to the expected value.

The top three were Paris St-Germain's Gianluigi Donnarumma, Inter Milan's Yann Sommer and Real Madrid's Thibaut Courtois.

'Matic comments are harsh - but Onana has not justified his transfer fee'

By Simon Stone, BBC chief football news reporter

That is a pretty explosive statement from Matic, which goes to the heart of a major talking point among Manchester United supporters.

The status of Schmeichel and Van der Sar as legendary United figures is assured due to their Premier League title and Champions League-winning feats during their time at Old Trafford.

De Gea was the goalkeeper for the club's last championship-winning campaign under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013.

His unprecedented four United player of the year awards came at a point where many felt without De Gea, the club's slide from prominence would have been even worse than it was.

However, De Gea's time at Old Trafford coincided with the period when the demands on goalkeepers to play with their feet began to increase.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was not convinced by De Gea and he also lost his place in the Spain squad. Amid a huge amount of speculation around his future, United opted not to offer De Gea an extension in 2023 and he left, with Onana coming in from Inter Milan.

To say Onana is the worst goalkeeper in modern times is harsh and the name of Massimo Taibi's ill-fated four-game spell in 1999 (he conceded 12 goals) immediately springs to mind. The feeling is that Matic is standing up for a friend in De Gea.

Nevertheless, Onana has done little to justify his transfer fee – the fourth highest paid for a goalkeeper - which means Matic has a legitimate position to launch such an attack.

The pre-match handshake between the pair should be fun.