Athletic Bilbao star Nico Wiliams has refused to be drawn into a debate with Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes over the red card and penalty in United’s 3-0 win on Thursday.
El Correo cover comments from the forward today after he was asked about Fernandes’ comments after the Manchester United captain was involved in a heated debate with a journalist after the game.
Manchester United ran out 3-0 winners at San Mames on Thursday, with Fernandes bagging two goals and Casemiro the other in the impressive first-leg display.
The game very much hinged on the red card handed to Dani Vivian in the 35th minute, five minutes after Casemiro had opened the scoring.
He was shown a straight red card for bringing down Rasmus Hojlund as he looked set to get on the end of a cross and tap home a second.
The decision infuriated Athletic, with El Correo continuing to label it as ‘controversial’ today and led to an incident with El Chiringuito for Fernandes after the game.
He was asked by the journalist to comment on the penalty decision, to which the Manchester United man replied, in Spanish “Do you think it wasn’t a penalty?”
This led the journalist to respond, “I think it could have been a penalty, but no, it wasn’t a red card.”
Fernandes was having none of that, replying “Do you know the rules? I’ll explain it to you,” the Portuguese before explaining; “If he tries to make a tackle with his feet, it’s a yellow card. When he pushes or makes a tackle with his hands, it has to be a red card.”
The journalist then asked about other incidents, such as a grab on Galarrenta before the incident that Athletic felt should have been assessed.
“I didn’t see it,” Fernandes said.
“But I also think there was a penalty on Garnacho that wasn’t called. Talking about the referee is a common habit in Spain and Portugal. Since I’m in England, my mind changed a long time ago, and I’m not going to do it. Referees are like us; they make mistakes. I don’t think they made a mistake today.”
Wiliams has now been asked about this incident and the comments from the Manchester United captain but refused to get involved. He did, though, ‘snort’ before giving his answer, something El Correo say made ‘his position clear’.
“I saw what he said… In the end, everyone is free to think what they want. We’re going to play it cool as always, without getting into controversy… and may the best team win,” he said.
