Manchester United are in the wonderful city of Lyon this evening, playing on the not-quite-as-wonderful outskirts at the Groupama Stadium.
Much of the build up to the match in the French media has revolved around around Andre Onana saying Manchester United are way better than the Ligue 1 side, Nemanja Matic subsequently telling the goalkeeper he’s the worst in modern history at Old Trafford, and then Onana flexing his FA Cup winning muscles.
Aside from that, it’s largely been ignored as the concentration had obviously been on PSG welcoming Aston Villa in the Champions League.
L’Equipe get a chance today to give the match a page of their Thursday edition, and they’ve spoken to a couple of Frenchmen about Bruno Fernandes.
First up is Raphaël Varane, who needs no introduction.
He’s clearly a big fan of the Portuguese midfielder and is quoted by L’Equipe as saying: “He’s the heart of the team, one of the players who defends the most, he runs everywhere. He gives a lot of himself on the pitch, and off it, because he’s really involved in team life.”
Next up we have Jérémy Mathieu, who shared a few seasons with Fernandes at Sporting CP.
Mathieu had a great career, playing for other clubs including Valencia and Barcelona and picking up a sackful of trophies along the way.
Most recently he’s been in the French news because he’s currently working at an Intersport branch.
No, really.
Anyway, he gave his opinion on Fernandes: “Certainly, Bruno can be a bit annoying when he complains because a teammate misses a pass, while he himself could sometimes play more simply… But when you take stock of his leadership, it is very positive because Bruno naturally commands the team and speaks up in the locker room when necessary. He is a star, but he is constantly thinking about the group.”
