The seconds after the final whistle, rather than the 96 minutes played in the Allianz Arena, showed the cracks between Manchester United’s outfield players and their $56 million star signing of the summer, goalkeeper André Onana.

While most United players quickly strove off the pitch after the 4-3 defeat in Munich, Bayern’s Matthijs de Ligt, still wearing his warm-up kit, sprinted the other way. The Dutch defender, who had not seen a minute of game time, ran about 70 yards from Bayern’s bench towards his opponents’ goal, where the inconsolable Onana was seemingly lost in his own thoughts, alone, reflecting on his performance with slumped shoulders.

In the 28th minute, Leroy Sané had taken aim at United’s goal from outside the penalty box. It was a lackluster effort by the Bayern winger, too low and too central to challenge a Champions League goalkeeper. But Sané’s low ball bounced awkwardly on the ground in front of Onana. Just as the keeper was about to collect it, his gloves touched the ball – and it bounced bizarrely around him into the back of the net. Bayern took a 1-0 lead. Thanks, in large part, to the misfortune of United’s shot-stopper.

Moments after final whistle, Matthijs #deLigt, who didn’t play at all today, runs across pitch to console André #Onana, his former #Ajax teammate.
Most #ManUnited players desert their keeper, but #Casemiro jogs back, hugs Onana + shakes hands with de Ligt. #FCBayern #United pic.twitter.com/43PD9CJsI4

— Marie Schulte-Bockum (@marieschubo) September 20, 2023

The game ended 3-4 from United’s perspective, but none of the other three Bayern goals he conceded will be printed into Onana’s memory like the first, which had an unfortunate slapstick quality to it. United’s goalie never seemed to recover from the shock: Minutes later, when Serge Gnabry scored Bayern’s second, Onana sank to the ground with his back against the goalpost and remained there in apparent despair.

De Ligt Put His Arm Around Former Teammate Onana

But after the final whistle, it was Bayern’s De Ligt who first put his arms around Onana, talked to the ManUnited goalkeeper behind the cover of his own hand, then hugged his visibly downtrodden opponent.

Yes, the 24-year-old Dutchman and the 27-year-old Cameroonian had been teammates at Ajax between 2017 and 2019. But that successful spell, which culminated in Ajax’s spectacular run to the semi-finals of the Champions League in Spring 2019, ended more than four years ago, when De Ligt, then just 19 years old, left the Netherlands to join Juventus.

It is telling that a former teammate, who was not even on the pitch in Bayern’s victory, rushed over first to console the goalkeeper, before any of Onana’s ManUnited teammates spared him a second thought.

Casemiro first ManUnited player to approach Onana

About a minute after de Ligt’s apparent pep talk, Casemiro was the first man in a black and white uniform to jog over and address his goalkeeper. (and shake de Ligt’s hand.) Of course, Casemiro, 31, understands the subtleties of team chemistry in the Champions League, having won the trophy five times with Real Madrid.

Later, Noussair Mazraoui, another former Ajax teammate who sat on Bayern’s bench throughout, also embraced Onana.

ManUnited had signed the 27-year-old shot-stopper precisely for matches like this, as a difference-maker and talisman against opponents like Bayern Munich. In the history of modern soccer, only two goalkeepers were more expensive than Onana: Alisson Becker (€62.5m from Roma to Liverpool in 2018) and Kepa Arrizabalaga (€80m from Athletic Bilbao to Chelsea in 2018).

Onana excelled for Inter Milan in the 2022/23 Champions League campaign, carrying the Italians towards the final.

“Guys, not about André…” says Bruno Fernandes

“Guys, not about André [shakes head]…André [Onana] is a great goalkeeper. He will keep giving us a lot of points, a lot of saves. He does not have to take any blame for anything. We have to take the blame as a team. We will go through this moment together because we are strong… pic.twitter.com/Hfb61kKXTC

— Marie Schulte-Bockum (@marieschubo) September 20, 2023

However, Onana had a nightmare of an evening under Munich’s warm sky, calling to memory tragic Champions League goalkeeping performances like Loris Karius’ for Liverpool in the 2018 final.

An hour after the final whistle, Onana exited the Allianz Arena through the stadium’s mixed zone, where journalists can address players. When I asked Onana about his encounter with de Ligt, the United man looked at me open-mouthed for a few seconds, but didn’t respond. He headed straight for the exit where the team bus stood waiting.

A few minutes later, his captain, Bruno Fernandes, verbally defended his goalkeeper in the same spot.

“Guys, not about André … André [Onana] is a great goalkeeper,” Fernandes told a group of mostly British journalists. “He will keep giving us a lot of points, a lot of saves. He does not have to take any blame for anything. We have to take the blame as a team. We will go through this moment together because we are strong as a team.”

Fernandes and Onana will have another chance to prove how strong their team is on Saturday, when they travel to Burnley on matchday six of the Premier League.