Andre Onana has stunned supporters of upcoming opponents Lyon with bold comments about their chances of victory.
The two teams meet on Thursday for the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie to be hosted at the Groupama Stadium.
Asked to assess his upcoming hosts, Onana wasn’t in the mood to soften his opinions.
Andre Onana predicts simple Manchester United win against Lyon
As quoted by French outlet Made in Gones, Onana said: "I think we are better than them, we just have to go there and show who we are.
“If we go with a winning mentality, if we are focused, if we remain compact and supportive and if we follow the game plan, we will win the game.”
It has not been the best season for the Red Devils – who currently sit 13th in the Premier League table – a fact Onana accepts, but that doesn’t diminish his confidence for the upcoming battle against Lyon.
"It's a beautiful team. We know some of them,” he continued. “But I don't think we should focus on them. It's more about us, what we're going to do.
"I think we're much better than them. We all know the importance of this game, we will go there with the mentality of victory, it is not our best season, but we still have something to gain and we will."
Given some of United’s performances this term, the Cameroonian gloveman will have to hope he hasn’t supplied the French team with even greater motivation to clinch a win – especially after comments described as “ill-advised” by Sport Witness.
In FourFourTwo’s opinion, while the Red Devils have little to shout about domestically, they have fared much better on the European stage this season.
Nevertheless, such bullish confidence usually comes from a side fighting on multiple fronts in the top competitions, not one who has, at times, contemplated the possibility of relegation this season.
Although you almost need your goalkeeper to have unnatural levels of confidence to take the gig in the first place, some may have preferred to hear Onana’s comments after the job’s done.
