Whilst strolling through the quaint streets of Lyon hours before Manchester United’s Europa League quarter-final, a WhatsApp voice note arrived from a contact. It contained an instruction.

In the event that United won, this correspondent was advised to get Andre Onana’s attention in the mixed zone by addressing him with a specific phrase in Italian. Onana would then stop to chat and do something “funny” to defuse the fallout from his pre-match comments that United were “way better” than Lyon. Onana’s own brand of comedy was reserved for his performance that evening.

There were two more errors, the second an added-time fumble that invited Rayan Cherki to equalise. Before kick-off at the Groupama Stadium, Onana, iPhone headphones on, casually strolled over to one of the goal frames to chec

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