Update: |‘Something special’ happened for me to join Manchester United – now I’m plotting their downfall News

United take on Lyon in the Europa League quarter-finals and a former Reds star is plotting their demise

When Manchester United make the trip across the channel to face Lyon in the quarter-finals of the Europa League on Thursday evening, they will line up against a familiar face.

Nemanja Matic may be in the twilight of his career but the 36-year-old has established himself as a key man in the Lyon midfield since joining the club last January.

And his experience and game management in midfield could well prove to be crucial over a two-legged tie the success of United’s first season under Ruben Amorim hinges on.

It says a lot that United have never truly been able to identify a long-term defensive midfielder to fill the void left by Matic when he made the move to Roma in the summer of 2022.

The Serbian international had won two Premier League titles and a League Cup during his second spell at Chelsea between 2014 and 2017 but had fallen out of favour under Antonio Conte.

It was Jose Mourinho who sanctioned his return to Stamford Bridge in January 2014 and he was desperate to sign him once he made the move to United, too.

So when ‘something special’ happened to make him available for transfer, Mourinho did not hesitate to bring him to Old Trafford.

“I didn’t disturb him, I didn’t disturb Chelsea,” Mourinho said. “It looked like something special was happening because his agent told me we can have him, that we just had to pay.

“It depends on what is happening or what was happening behind doors and we don’t know.

“The only thing I know is that I brought him to Stamford Bridge because I thought he was a player with special qualities and since I left I always thought he could be a perfect player for us.

“We have him and we are very happy because he is a player that our team needs.”

His performance on his United debut – a 4-0 win – led former United treble winner Phil Neville to sarcastically thank Chelsea on social media for selling him to United.

He became a key cog in a Mourinho side that finished the 2017/18 season in second place with 81 points, 19 points behind Man City’s record 100-points tally.

While Matic ultimately did not win anything at United, Mourinho, who has won everything in the game, still insists that season remains one of his finest achievements in football given the resources and strength of the squad Pep Guardiola has at his disposal.

Mourinho, of course, was replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer midway through the following season who tried to phase Matic out of the side in the 2019/20 season.

But Matic proved his value to the Norwegian and remained an important squad member until he left the club in 2022 to be reunited with Mourinho at Roma. In a long list of transfer errors since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club, Matic’s move to Chelsea can relatively go down as a rare success.

His one season in the Italian capital ended with a Europa League final defeat to Sevilla and his career has since taken him to France.

Lyon have endured some turbulent times during Matic’s brief time with the club but, alongside former Arsenal forward Alexandre Lacazette and ex-Bayern Munich midfielder Corentin Tolisson, has added an experienced core that helps young talents like Rayan Cherki and Georges Mikautadze thrive.

Lyon are fifth in Ligue 1 and firmly in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League. They lost just once in the Europa League league phase and have already beaten fellow quarter-finalists Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers en-route to the last eight of the competition.

United have endured a difficult season but know the Europa League not only offers a realistic chance of winning some silverware but also a ticket into next season’s Champions League.

But overcoming Paulo Fonseca’s Lyon side over two legs will be no easy task. You can be certain Matic and co make sure of that.