Eric Cantona has revealed his bonkers Champions League speech came from his "favourite Shakespeare play".
The Manchester United legend, 53, left Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and the watching world baffled as he accepted a Uefa award by quoting the famous playwright before talking about ageing, science and war.
And according to The Times, footballer-turned-thespian Cantona had a simple reason for opening his speech with a famous line from Big Bill's back catalogue.
He said it was "my favourite quote from my favourite Shakespeare play".
Cantona appeared at the glitzy awards do wearing a casual red shirt, jeans and Peaky Blinders-style flat cap.
He was collecting the President's Award for his commitment to helping improve the lives of others ahead of the Champions League draw. His full speech shocked the watching world.
"As flies to wanton boys are we to the Gods," he said, "They kill us for their sport."
"Soon the science will be able to slow down the ageing of the cells, to the state. Soon we will become eternal.
"Only accidents, crimes, wars, will still kill us.
"Unfortunately, crimes, wars, will multiply. I love football. Thank you."
It's not the first time Cantona's words have left the watching world speechless.
Cantona famously left football fans baffled back in 1995 with another bizarre philosophical edict.
After winning an appeal against a two-week prison sentence for his kung-fu kick on a Crystal Palace fan - getting 120 hours of community service instead - Cantona spoke his infamous words.
"When seagulls follow the trawler it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea," he said before walking out of the press conference to laughter and confusion.
Nudanos
72
As flies to wanton boys are we to the Gods," he said, "They kill us for their sport." "Soon the science will be able to slow down the ageing of the cells, to the state. Soon we will become eternal. simply interpreted; wanton bits gather flies for sports not caring if the flies dies or lives afterwards, as truly the flies dies. so those the present days moguls gather players today to play endless matches. science is being used today to help players recover from fatigue and injuries, the idea is to suspend the aging of players and make them play longer. He's using Shakespeare to mock football giants who want to use science to achieve the impossible and don't care about the lives of players but only care about making money from sports. look at the spate of injuries to players, they finished the league went on international leagues returned without rest. clubs are playing for four to seven cups at once. playing two to three games a week flying for thousands of kilometres to play matches without rest. "flies to wanton boys ..."
MashrifShahriar55
40
Messi: WTF is he talking about? Ronaldo: He spent 20 minutes with Maradona before coming.
YourHighness
40
Well Shakespeare is confusing in high school, so your speech was also confusing!
SINGAM23
11
Eric Cantona should've talked about the kung-fu kick showdown he'd executed to a football fan some years ago