Rúben Amorim insists that the war of words between André Onana and Nemanja Matić will not affect Thursday’s clash between Olympique Lyonnais and Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League.
The Red Devils head to Lyon for the first leg of their quarter-final against the French side, with buildup to the match dominated by Matić’s criticism of Onana in his press conference on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, Onana suggested that Manchester United are a “way better” side than their French opponents – but Matić quipped that “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.”
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday, Amorim sought to defuse the tension and explained that “if you see the full quote of Andre Onana, it is quite different.”
“Sometimes the players don’t listen to the full quotes and it is just a misunderstanding. I know Matić also – he’s a great guy – so tomorrow is going to be a normal game.”
Amorim insisted that “if you look to all the quotes, you cannot see disrespect there – just respect. But he shows confidence to his team. Everyone talks about bad things about Manchester United this year; someone has to show some confidence in our team.”
“I know Nemanja Matić really well and how good a guy he is. I think he has heard things by half,” Amorim concluded.
Lyon will host Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday 10 April, with kick-off at 20:00 BST [21:00 CEST].