Barcelona boss Xavi was brutally trolled by Manchester United after he failed to correctly name Bruno Fernandes in the build-up to Thursday’s Europa League clash
Manchester United have had some fun at the expense of Xavi after the Barcelona boss referred to Bruno Fernandes as “the Portuguese guy” prior to Thursday night’s crunch Europa League tie.
United locked horns with the Spanish giants at Old Trafford with a place in the last 16 of the tournament up for grabs. The tie was finely poised after last week’s enthralling 2-2 draw at the Nou Camp, but Robert Lewandowski’s early penalty nudged Barcelona into pole position to qualify.
After trailing at the break, United needed a big second-half performance to progress – and that’s exactly what they got, with Fernandes playing a crucial role in their 4-3 aggregate win.
The Portuguese playmaker needed less than two minutes to tee up Fred for United’s leveller: a thumping volley that turned the match on its head. And the Brazilian’s compatriot, Antony, stepped off the bench to fire home the winner to dump Xavi’s side out of Europe.
Fernandes’ role in the second-half turnaround was fitting after Xavi’s apparent inability to name him in the build-up to the match – an act which infuriated United fans on social media.
When he was asked about Erik ten Hag prior to the match, Xavi told The Times: “He is very good, I like him a lot. He has built a team and is getting the best out of all his players. That speaks well of him. Tactically he is very good and he handles the dressing room very well.
“He is getting all the talent out of his players. You see [Jadon] Sancho, [Marcus] Rashford, the Portuguese guy [Bruno Fernandes]. And look how Fred is playing.”
But Manchester United’s official Spanish Twitter account had the last laugh following the match – they wasted no time in rubbing salt into Xavi’s wounds by throwing up a post which an image of Fernandes celebrating complete with the mischievous caption: “THE PORTUGUESE GUY.”
Fernandes, who also sparked an on-field row after booting the ball at Manchester United transfer target Frenkie de Jong in the second half, was full of praise for the fans after United’s enthralling victory.
He told BT Sport: “As I’ve said they’ve [the fans] been with us in the toughest moments. This season we have been good, we’ve been really good, also because they are always behind us.
“This is something different, you can feel it between them and us, we have something special because they see that we are doing all we can to win games for them. Old Trafford was bouncing, that’s why we get the result.
“When you get the goal straight after the second half starts you know they will be behind us. It was just a matter of time to score the second goal.”
Source: www.mirror.co.uk
