Onana will start against Lyon, confirms Man Utd boss Amorim

Ruben Amorim has confirmed goalkeeper Andre Onana will start for Manchester United against Lyon on Thursday.

Onana made two blunders as United drew 2-2 with Lyon in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final tie last week.

Having labelled United as "way better" than Lyon ahead of the match, Onana was left humbled when he allowed Thiago Almada's free-kick to creep in for Lyon's opener, before he then spilled the ball straight to Rayan Cherki for the French club to equalise with the last kick of the game.

The former Ajax and Inter goalkeeper has made eight errors leading directly to goals in all competitions since the start of last season, which is more than any other Premier League shot-stopper in that time.

Onana was subsequently taken out of the firing line for United's visit to Newcastle United last Sunday, though his replacement Altay Bayindir hardly made his chance count.

United lost 4-1, with Bayindir making a mistake for Newcastle's fourth goal when he played a poor pass straight to Joelinton.

And Amorim has now revealed Onana will be back in United's line-up for the second leg against Lyon.

"Onana will play tomorrow," Amorim said on Thursday.

"As a coach and former player first of all I try to do things that can help a player in this situation.

"We speak about managing players physically but we also have to manage them also mentally.

"We had one weekend where I felt it was better for Onana not to play and a good thing for Altay to play.

"When I made that decision last weekend I talked before with Andre. That is important for me to explain to the player what I am thinking.

"Sometimes it is my feelings as a coach that can make my decision more than what they are saying to me. I have the conversation but then it is my decision in the end."

Asked if he feels Onana is ready for a comeback, Amorim replied: "Yeah, I have that feeling for sure. The team is the most important thing. I'm not putting Andre because I think Andre deserves to return to competition, I'm thinking about the game because it is really important for us."

Reports have suggested United will look to replace Onana in the summer, but Amorim wants to work to improve the 29-year-old.

Amorim said: "We need to improve. What we should do is improve any position in the team with the players we have and try to bring characteristics for next year.

"My answer is that we need to improve every position in the field. Goalkeeper is the same, we can work with Andre.

"If our team scores more goals and is more dangerous in forward [positions] we will defend better. Onana has already proved he is a top player at Inter. So he has a pass. 

"We are going to make that evaluation for any position in the squad. If we are talking about mistakes you can see my record - my record is the worst one in our team and I am also underperforming. I think I am the right guy to coach the team and I think the same for Andre."

Harry Maguire, meanwhile, insisted Onana is the right goalkeeper for United.

"Andre has proved in his past that he is an excellent goalkeeper," the England international said.

"He has won numerous trophies, he has played in Champions League finals. During a career you always have spells of ups and downs and you find yourself a little bit out of form. It is about how you build yourself back in and find that confidence to perform again.

"Playing in front of Andre it's great. I have confidence in Andre, he has had a fantastic career. He has great experience and we all know he is an excellent goalkeeper."

This will be the third time United have faced Lyon in European competition at Old Trafford, with the Red Devils winning both prior meetings (2-1 in November 2004 and 1-0 in March 2008).

Lyon have lost just one of their last nine European games against sides from England (W4 D4), a 3-0 defeat to West Ham during the 2021-22 Europa League.

They are also unbeaten across their last 12 away Europa League games (W9 D3), since a 1-0 defeat to Atalanta in December 2017.