I heard Andre Onana's Lyon answer and Nemanja Matic showed at Manchester United he would fire back

'Worst ever' has been levelled at Manchester United plenty of times this season, most cuttingly by their own manager. Lyon midfielder Nemanja Matic made it personal.

"When you are one of the worst goalkeepers in Man United history, you need to take care what you’re talking about," he said in response to Andre Onana's declaration that United are "way better" than Lyon.

“If David De Gea or Peter Schmeichel or (Edwin) van der Sar said that, then I would question myself. But if you’re one of the statistically worst goalkeepers in Man United’s modern history, then he needs to show that before he says. We will see.”

You can tell Matic was signed by Jose Mourinho on three occasions. Former teammates dubbed Matic filho - son - due to his close relationship with the former United manager who brought him back to Chelsea in 2014.

Matic's takedown evoked memories of Mourinho ruining Frank de Boer's future job prospects ("the worst manager in the history of the Premier League: seven matches, seven defeats, zero goals"). Few will challenge Matic's statistics.

Only four of us were huddled around Onana on the Old Trafford concourse on Sunday evening to hear that bullish proclamation. The question began with, "What do you make of Lyon?"

Before United took off from Manchester Airport on Wednesday afternoon, Onana had the last word on his social channels: "At least I’ve lifted trophies with the greatest club in the world. Some can’t say the same." The post was accompanied by a picture of Onana cradling the FA Cup. Matic was a losing finalist with United in the 2018 FA Cup and 2021 Europa League.

Matic and United also came up short in the 2020 Europa League semi-finals against Sevilla. Matic was an unused substitute and Mourinho, a distant