Nemanja Matic labels Andre Onana ‘one of the worst goalkeepers in the club’s history’ in response to Man Utd star’s comments | OneFootball

Nemanja Matic has hit back at Andre Onana, labelling him “one of the worst goalkeepers in Man United’s history”.

Matic spent five years at Old Trafford but he is now set to face his former club in the Europa League quarter-finals. The midfielder is currently playing for Lyon, who will host the first leg of the tie on Thursday.

Onana is evidently confident ahead of the clash. United’s goalkeeper told the media: “Of course, it’s not going to be easy. But I think we are way better than them.”

The Cameroonian explained: “If we go there with a winning mentality and we are focused, stay compact and together and we follow the game plan, we will be winning the game.

“We know some of them, but I don’t think we have to focus on them. It’s more about us, what we’re going to do.”

However, these comments clearly did not sit well with Matic. In a pre-match press conference he responded: “I respect everyone. But to say that, then you need to get the answer. If you are one of the worst goalkeepers in Man United history you need to take care when you are talking.

“If David De Gea or Peter Schmeichel or van der Sar says that then I will question myself. But if you are statistically one of the worst goalkeepers in Man United’s modern history then he needs to show that before he says it.”

Although he came down hard on Onana, the Serb still had a lot of respect for his former employers. The midfielder said: “Every single day that I spent in Man United I was proud of. Of course the results were sometimes better, sometimes worse, but in the end I think I did my best in that moment, together with the club and the whole team.

“For me, when I look back at my time at Man United, I think it was mostly positive things.”

Looking ahead to the match itself, Matic was not as brazen as Onana. He said: “They don’t have a chance in the Premier League to reach the European competition. But on the other side I’m sure that when they have a meeting together they say they have a big chance in the Europa League, the only chance. “

The two-time Premier League winner continued: “When you hear the lion in that moment, it’s very dangerous. We know that, but we know our job, we know our quality, we respect them a lot. We know that they have quality players, they are a big club so we expect that they will be 100% ready.

“I don’t think that because they are 13th in the table in the Premier League, this will help us a lot. But we are ready to compete. We expect them to come strong.”