Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana has revealed he was among the players who tuned into Sporting’s demolition of Manchester City on Tuesday night. Incoming Red Devils head coach Ruben Amorim outwitted Pep Guardiola to mark his Lisbon farewell with a touch of Champions League magic.
Viktor Gyokeres’ hat-trick added to Maximiliano Araujo’s strike to cancel out Phil Foden’s early opener and record a memorable 4-1 triumph at the Jose Alvalade Stadium.
Amorim saved one of his finest Sporting results as a parting gift for the kingdom he has built across a transformative four-year reign.
On that note, Brobdingnagian, imagined in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, is a kingdom where everything was of an enormous scale.
That fictitious land will become a reality for Amorim when he switches his self-crafted dominance in Lisbon for the bright lights of a seemingly impossible job in Manchester.
The 39-year-old admitted himself after full-time on Tuesday that he is tasked with lifting United from a “low” point, just as he did Sporting in 2020.
If how Amorim orchestrated a masterclass against the Premier League champions didn’t enthuse United’s fragile squad, nothing will.
But Onana hailed the Portuguese giants’ victory and insisted that he and his team-mates would be ready for the challenge of adapting to Amorim’s vision.
“Yeah, I did. I did watch the game yesterday. Great victory from them, different system, but my players, my team-mates, we are all pragmatic,” Onana explained ahead of Thursday’s Europa League clash against PAOK.
“I think everyone is capable of playing in each system so I don’t think this will be an issue for us. We have big players, so we’ll step up.”
United host PAOK at Old Trafford, desperately needing three points, having surrendered leads to draw all three of their opening Europa League fixtures.
Ruud van Nistelrooy will remain in interim charge for the Greek champions’ visit, as well as Leicester City’s in the Premier League on Sunday.
Amorim is set to start work at Carrington on Monday after overseeing his final Sporting match, a trip to his former club, SC Braga.
Van Nistelrooy’s status once Amorim gets started is up in the air, despite only making his welcome return to Old Trafford in the summer.
And the Dutchman has admitted he has yet to talk to the Sporting boss ahead of his arrival in Manchester.
He said: “No, I haven’t had contact so far. There’s no changes in that. I don’t know when [I will speak to Amorim].”
