Bruno fernandes

Even when United were assured of progress, 5-1 up on aggregate, Fernandes was on the pitch whirring around. By the time he eventually came off, on 68 minutes, he had cemented his place as the most used player in Europe’s top five leagues. Incredibly, Fernandes has played more minutes in all competitions this campaign than any other player in England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France — including goalkeepers. Fernandes has clocked up 3,751 minutes in total in 2022-23. After the game, Ten Hag explained why and how Fernandes plays so frequently. “He is very strong, has very good recovery, he is a very good athlete, he has so much energy,” he said, before expanding on a different aspect of his game. “He can play in so many roles, tactically he is brilliant, we can overload areas, we can outplay opponents. We create good situations and chances, he is very important in the counter-press and transitions. He is a good example for the team. In recent weeks, he has been in brilliant form and he looks like he is getting better from game to game.” A ringing endorsement from Ten Hag, who sees Fernandes as a player who can understand and execute his instructions, hence the consistency in his selection. Whenever Ten Hag has been asked if Fernandes plays too much, he has a simple answer: “He likes to play and he doesn’t want to miss anything.” Fernandes has been involved in bad defeats this season, but a glaring occasion when his presence was missed came against “He’s had a really importan...

Cristiano Ronaldo was claiming the goal long after the final whistle and despite all available evidence to the contrary. The superstar without a club was denied, and denied another slice of Portuguese football history too, and may eventually have to accept his country’s serene progress into the last 16 of the An eagerly-awaited clash of two talented and tempestuous heavyweights did not meet expectations but the repercussions could prove monumental for Uruguay. The South Americans must beat Ghana on Friday and hope Portugal do them a favour against South Korea to avoid an ignominious early exit. Ghana have waited 12 years for a chance “It is a crucial game but it has nothing to do with what happened 12 years ago,” insisted the Uruguay head coach Diego Alonso. “This is a different situation. We will bring all the weapons we have.” Alonso started with Federico Valverde, Rodrigo Bentancur, Darwin Núñez and Edinson Cavani. He introduced Suárez and Maxi Gómez, who both went close to equalising before It was aWorldCuplike no other. For the last 12 years the Guardian has been reporting on the issues surrounding Qatar2022, from corruption and human rights abuses to thetreatment of migrant workers and discriminatory laws. The best of our journalism is gathered on our dedicated Guardian reporting goes far beyond what happens on the pitch. Support our investigative journalism Thank you for your feedback. But they were second best throughout to a Portugal team that needed to be patient...

Ref Watch: Should Bruno Fernandes' goal have stood against Manchester City? Dermot Gallagher's verdict Bruno Fernandes' equalising goal in the Manchester derby was allowed to stand despite Marcus Rashford appearing to interfere with play from an offside position; Referee Stuart Attwell deliberated over the decision with VAR Michael Oliver for 60 seconds before awarding the goal Image: Marcus Rashford was judged not to be interfering with play in the build-up to Bruno Fernandes' equaliser against Man City INCIDENT: VAR check cleared Marcus Rashford from being offside in the build-up to Bruno Fernandes' equaliser (78) - to the fury of City's players, who protested that the forward had interfered with play. A Casemiro pass through for Rashford appeared to find the forward in a clear offside position but he didn't touch the ball, despite it being right by his feet, and Fernandes stepped in to curl home from the edge of the box. City were incensed but VAR judged Rashford hadn't touched the ball or impacted the City defence to be offside. Trending • Transfer Centre LIVE! Real Madrid's Bellingham explains his move... • Papers: Man Utd threaten Chelsea pursuit of Inter 'keeper Onana • Man Utd shares up 10 per cent but Qataris still waiting on exclusivity • McIlroy three back after Fowler, Schauffele make US Open history • Bellingham passes first test on Real unveiling as new No 5 • Mbappe: Macron has no influence on my career • Will England win The Ashes? Pundits' predictions... •...

No goals, no assists, no shots, no tackles, no interceptions. Or, as a watching countryman by the name of Jose Mourinho described his display that night in Munich: “On the pitch but not playing.” Fernandes didn’t start in the last 16 against All of which is hard to imagine right now, when he’s the spearhead of a team who have progressed from a tricky World Cup group containing His two goals and two assists in victories over Ghana and Uruguay mean no one had more goal involvements in the tournament at the time of writing (he’s level with That continues a prolific run of form in a Portugal shirt for the 28-year-old; five goals and three assists in his five appearances this season is far superior to his 2022-23 At United, Fernandes was never able to shake off the suggestion he wasn’t as effective after With Portugal, the pair play in tandem, ably assisted by the sublime The below graphic shows the average positions of Portugal’s players in their 2-0 defeat of Uruguay on Monday, with Fernandes (No 8) and Bernardo (No 10) close together, albeit the latter had more of a free role. This is Fernandes’ heatmap from the same match, showing how he tended to stick on the right and combine with right-back The next graphic shows us the points on the pitch where Bernardo played all of his successful passes. Basically, Portugal have three roamers in Fernandes, Bernardo and Ronaldo, with the latter (whose heat map is below) sometimes making himself available for balls into the box but also...

On the field, under the scorching spotlight of life in the United midfield, how did it feel in those moments? “You could feel it between us, between the fans, in the atmosphere, that it was like getting back to the past,” says “Then Brentford was even worse. We conceded a goal from nothing and all of a sudden you could see the energy of the team was low, the confidence was low.” When Fernandes references the “ghosts from the past”, every United player, staff member and supporter will know what he means. This is about the torment and turbulence of last season; the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, GO DEEPER Special report: Inside Ralf Rangnick's spell as interim manager of Manchester United He continues: “Confidence in football is not everything but almost everything. When you have the confidence of your team-mates, your coach, the fans, it is really important because sometimes on the pitch, when you miss a pass and everyone is…” His face drops, and he makes that unmistakable kind of groaning sound football supporters produce when a pass goes astray. “You can feel it in that moment. But when you miss a pass and react quickly, you see the fans appreciate it, so for us, it is about having the confidence that we are capable of doing something. “When I talk about the ghosts of the past, I mean that we felt in the past that every time we miss a pass or something, we were letting someone down, so you start missing more. Instead, you must think, ‘I have to try’. “I know that becaus...