Manchester United travel to Everton this weekend, with Bruno Fernandes suggesting it will be a tougher game than usual, given the circumstances
(Image credit: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has admitted that it will be “really difficult” to face Everton this weekend, following their points deduction in the Premier League.
The midfielder concluded a qualifying campaign with Portugal flawlessly, by winning 10 out of 10 games. After the 2-0 win against Iceland, he spoke to FourFourTwo about his country’s historical achievement and looked ahead to the upcoming games with Manchester United.
Portugal finished top of its group with a goal difference of 36-2, with the current team possessing a great mix of talent and experience. Fernandes, who scored six and provided eight in the qualification campaign, is very happy with his team’s recent performances.
Portugal have enjoyed a perfect Euros qualifying campaign (Image credit: Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
“We knew that we wanted to do something special, because we knew that we could do 10 out of 10,” he told FFT. “So, it was in our minds. It’s an amazing feeling obviously, as we are part of the history of Portugal now, but we want to make more history in the future.”
The attacking midfielder says the team is looking ahead to the Euros with belief among themselves, regardless of the good recent results. “Even if it wasn’t a perfect qualification, we would obviously be really confident to go to the Euros and put ourselves in a position to get as far as possible.”
At club level, Fernandes is also confident that United can continue their form in the Premier League, in which they won their last two games. Yet, he says that the upcoming game at Everton is not easy and will be extra challenging after the news of the Toffees being deducted points for financial breaches.
Everton have been deducted points in the league (Image credit: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
“We have to focus game by game, now we have an away game against Everton and it’s really difficult to play there,” Fernandes says. “They just lost 10 points, so we know that they need points, they are going to fight for their points, so we just have to find the focus to go to Everton and win the game, because we know that in the Premier League, these kinds of games are always tough.”
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“Obviously, [Galatasaray] after that is a massive game, we know the position we are in the Champions League, what we need to do. So, it’s good to focus on game by game, because we can’t think too much ahead.”
United will hope Fernandes will bring some of his country’s steadiness to the club. If they win their next two games, the Red Devils will be right there in the mix both domestically and in Europe.
Arthur Renard has been writing for FourFourTwo since 2013, when Ronald Koeman hosted him for a Readers interview in a small room in stadium De Kuip. Two years later Arthur moved to London, where he still lives and from where he covers English football, while he has also been travelling the world to cover events like the World Cup and Copa America.
