'I just told him...' - What Paul Scholes told Nemanja Matic before Manchester United vs Lyon second leg
Man Utd face Lyon in the second leg of their huge quarter-final tie on Thursday night.
Manchester United great Paul Scholes warned Lyon star Nemanja Matic to 'leave Andre Onana alone' ahead of their huge Europa League quarter-final second leg on Thursday night. United host the French side at Old Trafford with a place in the semi-finals at stake for the winner on the night.
Onana was once again the biggest talking point ahead of the second leg after he made headlines a week ago with a horror show in their 2-2 draw. Before the first leg, the Cameroonian bullishly claimed United were 'way better' than their Ligue 1 opponents, only for him to be at fault for both of the Lyon goals.
It was perhaps no surprise to former United midfielder Matic, who had stoked the flames even more when he labelled Onana 'the worst goalkeeper in the club's modern history.' Onana was rested for the weekend defeat to Newcastle but returned to the starting line up to face Lyon on Thursday night.
What Paul Scholes told Nemanja Matic
Andre Onana was jeered by Lyon supporters when he ventured onto the pitch for his pre-match warm-up, with all eyes on the 29-year-old ahead of Manchester United's biggest match of the season. There was also plenty of attention on former United midfielder Matic, who caught up with Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand ahead of kick-off.
Speaking as a pundit on TNT Sports, Scholes was quizzed on what he said to Matic in their brief chat. “I just told him to leave my goalkeeper alone," the United legend claimed.
In his pre-match press conference on the eve of the game, Ruben Amorim explained why Onana would return in goal to face Lyon after his recent mistakes. “I just think first of all as a coach and also as a former player I try to do things that help a player in this situation,” he said. “Sometimes we talk about managing players physically but we also have to do it ready. But they also have to return to competition. This week my thinking was to put Onana to play.
“That is the dilemma, this is the big factor on being a coach, everything you do has two ways, if he going to be really good tomorrow, I am sure of that but if it is the other way, people say it is a bad decision. I am trying to be really simple, not overthinking. I see Andre Onana, he had one weekend of rest.”