With Bruno Fernandes, Manchester United have long since learned to take the rough with the smooth.
Not every pass will reach the destination. Not every speculative shot will hit the target. But maybe one every three, five or ten does. And that is often the difference between no points, one point and all three.
Bruno Fernandes‘ silky, scheming display during Portugal’s nervy 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic in their long-awaited Euro 2024 opener was typical of the Manchester United captain.
Fernandes’ pass completion rate of 87 per cent was only the eighth best in the Portugal side (WhoScored). But it is not his job to simply keep possession ticking over. No, Fernandes’ role is that of a risk-taker. The gambler. The dice roller, tasked with ensuring that a six comes around every now and again.
Fernandes rolled plenty of fives on the night; Rafael Leao failed to connect with his inch-perfect cross and a fizzing shot deflected narrowly over. Another gorgeous through ball was squandered by, of all people, Cristiano Ronaldo.
But, in terms of pure creativity, this was arguably the finest performance by any player at the European Championships thus far, even if Fernandes was not quite content with his efforts.
Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes shines in Portugal win
“It becomes more difficult when the opponent plays with a line of five defenders. Sometimes, I forced passes when I shouldn’t have,” Fernandes tells Sport TV, a tendency to ‘force’ things arguably both his biggest strength as well as his greatest weakness.
“I made a few mistakes in the first-half. Taking risks has both sides of the coin, I’m aware of that. But, if I manage to get the ball through, there’s a lot of quality in front of me to score. So I’m not worried about making mistakes because it’s part of the game.
“I have the team pushing me because they know that’s one of my characteristics.”
Ronaldo, scorer of 50 goals in 51 Al-Nassr appearances last term, is unlikely to miss many more chances like this on German soil. Ditto Leao, only a stud away from tapping in Fernandes’ cross at the far post.
One thing is for sure, Fernandes is not going to let those near misses dim his shine. Statistically the most creative footballer in Europe’s major leagues, Fernandes’ ‘expected assists’ numbers dwarfed his actual figures in 2023/24 but the talismanic skipper just keeps on chugging along, doing what he does better than anyone else.
Portugal’s Pedro Neto is a Man United transfer target
“The Czech Republic had a low block and we should have tried to play between the lines,” Fernandes ads with a laugh. “If Cristiano had scored that goal, they probably wouldn’t have said I misplaced so many passes!”
Portugal’s late winner came not from Fernandes or Ronaldo but from two younger players who combined to devastating effect off the bench. Francisco Conceicao, on his competetive debut no less, reacted quickest to slam from close range after a trademark burst of acceleration from Wolves winger Pedro Neto.
“Francisco Conceicao has an energy that captivates. Everyone knows his qualities,” Fernandes says of the Porto playmaker. “But, we cannot forget Pedro Neto, for the move he made. We have several players who can ‘spread embers’.
“We are happy as a group. The whole team jumped off the bench to celebrate the goal.”
Neto, as reported recently, is one of the wingers on Man United’s radar this summer. Wolverhampton Wanderers want around £60 million, the same fee required to take Michael Olise away from Crystal Palace.