Manchester United take on Olympique Lyonnais tonight, looking to advance to the semi-final of the Europa League.
After the match in France was tied 2-2 , United need a win of any kind to keep their chances of finishing the season with a trophy alive.
The Red Devils have played the French side six times in European history.
They have never lost. There have been three victories and three draws in total.
Here are three storylines to look forward to this evening.
United looking to extend unbeaten run
Whilst the Red Devils have been poor in the league, they have won six and drawn five of their 11 Europa League matches.
According to The BBC, “the last time the Red Devils began a European campaign unbeaten across their opening 11 matches they eventually went on to lose 3-1 in the 2010-11 UEFA Champions League final against Barcelona.”
A win or draw tonight would extend this fine record.
The Red Devils also have a good record against French sides at home, if not recently. “Manchester United have lost each of their last two home European games against sides from France, 0-2 and 1-3 vs Paris Saint-Germain in February 2019 and December 2020.”
Nonetheless, before these two games, they were unbeaten in 14 matches between 1965 and 2017, winning ten and drawing four.
Lyon will be no pushovers
While United worked hard to get a 2-2 draw in France, especially after falling a goal behind, the French side are no pushovers on their travels.
“Lyon are unbeaten across their last 12 away UEFA Europa League games, winning nine and drawing three, since a 1-0 defeat to Atalanta in December 2017.”
What’s more, they also have a strong recent record against English sides as they have lost just one of their most recent nine games in European competition.
They have won four and drawn four, with their only defeat coming against West Ham United in the 2021/2022 Conference League.
Andre Onana’s last chance
Onana made the headlines before and after the first leg match last week. Prior to the game, he claimed that United were much better than Lyon and got into a war of words with Nemanja Matic.
The Cameroonian went on to make two horror mistakes in the match and was dropped from the squad to face Newcastle United in the league last weekend.
Nonetheless, Ruben Amorim has claimed that Onana will definitely start the game at Old Trafford tonight.
The 29 year old will be grateful for the opportunity to redeem himself but he will know that a poor performance tonight could soon cost him his United career as fans’ patience has run very thin with him after two calamitous seasons in red.
Featured image Michael Steele via Getty Images
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
