"The war triangle" - Onana, Matic & Cherki (©Reuters/Andrew Couldridge/Gallo Images/AFP)
"The war triangle" - Onana, Matic & Cherki (©Reuters/Andrew Couldridge/Gallo Images/AFP)

'Lyon-United war' continues: 'They were scared of us,' claims Cherki, Matic keeps taunting Onana

Reading Time: 2min | Fri. 11.04.25. | 19:39

The clash between Lyon and Man United has ended, but the "war" between the players is still on, meaning that the return leg next Thursday at Old Trafford will undoubtedly provide fireworks

The first leg of the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals clash between the French Olympique Lyon and Manchester United ended in a 2-2 draw, though its prelude was almost as intriguing as the game itself. However, while the first match is over and the return leg is scheduled for next Thursday (22.00), the "war" between the players is still on.

It all started when Andre Onana asserted that United are "way better" than Lyon, to which the Ligue 1 side's player - and former Red Devils' midfielder - Nemanja Matic responded by calling the Cameroonian "one of the worst goalkeepers in the club's recent history."

The match was fascinating, as Onana indeed made a severe mistake prior to Lyon's opener, and although United came from behind, the French side levelled deep in the added time, which guarantees a spectacle in the return leg.

Yet, as if the game was only a short break, the taunting between the players continued, as the Serb posted a photo of his son surrounded by various Man United players' jerseys, of which one specifically drew everyone's attention, as it belongs to none other than Onana's understudy Tom Heaton!

And while it will remain unclear whether Matic wanted to send a message to Ruben Amorim regarding the Portuguese's choice of starting custodian, one of his Lyon teammates was pretty loud and clear, becoming the "third wheel" in the quarrel.

Namely, in his statement after the game, the scorer of the equalizer, Rayan Cherki slammed the Red Devils, claiming they were scared!

"We were way better than this [Manchester United] team. They are a good team but we were never scared of them and we never will be scared of them. We will go there (to Old Trafford) to win, to attack, not to defend as they did here. They came with two defensive midfielders so they were particularly scared of us. I hope that they won't do the same in the return leg because we will go there to play beautiful football and to win," said Cherki via Yahoo Sports.

Even without this additional "trash talk," the return leg was set to be sensational. Now we can say with certainty - It'll be wild!



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Olympique LyonManchester UnitedAndre OnanaNemanja MaticRayan CherkiUEFA Europa League

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