Former Chelsea star Nemanja Matic will soon face his other former Premier League side Manchester United in the Europa League with Olympique Lyon.
At 36-years-old Matic is still a crucial player for Lyon, making 34 appearances across all competitions this season.
Of course, Matic does have three Premier League medals to his name, the first of which came in the 2009/10 season under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea.
The Serbian then won the league again in 2014/15 and 2016/17 – one of the great midfielders of the modern era, even if he failed to add to those medal with Man United.
That being said, it was a former Manchester City midfielder who Matic named as the toughest player he’d ever faced over those years.
Nemanja Matic’s toughest ever opponent in the Premier League
Speaking in a recent interview with The Athletic, Matic admitted that Yaya Toure was his toughest opponent at the peak of his career, a real ‘machine’ in the middle.
Matic admitted that Toure looked ‘bigger in real life’ and noted his surprising speed as well.
He said: “Yaya Toure. He was a machine. When I signed the second time for Chelsea in January (2014), I made my debut versus Man Utd at home, playing only a few minutes.
“My first starting game was against Man City in Manchester against Yaya Toure. He was the best player in the Premier League at that moment, he’d score every game.
“He was strong with a very good technique when he had the ball. He was surprisingly fast too.
“People thought he was like me, clumpy running with the ball, but he was fast. I walked out and saw that he was like two metres.”
He continued: “He looked bigger in real life than on TV. It was my first start in the Premier League against this giant, but it was also a nice chance to show myself.
“I had no choice; I had to kill him. We won 1-0 — (Branislav) Ivanovic. I was man of the match.
“Yaya didn’t know me and maybe he didn’t expect that. But in the games after he knew me and always made sure he did his best.
“I always knew that I had to have a perfect game versus Yaya Toure.”
Yaya Toure picks his most ‘difficult’ opponent
Funnily enough, Toure actually named Matic as the toughest he ever faced when speaking to Mail Sport back in 2018.
Perhaps it is just a case of Matic returning the favour with his own words, but when explaining his choice, Toure lamented an incredibly ‘difficult’ midfielder to face.
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Toure said: “’He’s such a difficult player to play against. Tall and strong as well. It’s been fun to play against him, even though it’s difficult. He’s powerful, he’s tall.
“To be able to find an opponent to play against me and stop me… there’s few of them, but Matic was one of the close ones who was able to give me problems.
“’He can run. He can fall back. He can track. He can fight. He’s a good, good player.”
Two Premier League greats who were each capable of thundering home a 30-yard screamer alongside their defensive work.
