Manchester United threw shade at Barcelona head coach Xavi over Bruno Fernandes comment after the Red Devils beat them in the UEFA Europa League.
Fernandes gave away a penalty as Barcelona took a 1-0 lead in the second-leg at Old Trafford on Thursday but impressed in the second half and gave the assist for Fred’s goal as United turned it around to progress with a 2-1 win.
United supporters were angered in the build-up to the game as Xavi labelled Fernandes ‘the Portuguese guy’ with fans feeling he was showing a lack of respect for a player who has now registered 27 goal contributions in 35 European games for United.
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The Red Devils took to social media after their win over the Catalan club to post a picture of Fernandes celebrating with the caption: ‘THE PORTUGUESE GUY.’
Fernandes, speaking to BT Sport after the game, said: ‘[The fans] have been with us in the toughest moments this season.
‘They’ve been really good but this is something different. We have something special between us.
THE PORTUGUESE GUY. pic.twitter.com/UKITc0eRMF
— Manchester United (@ManUtd_Es) February 23, 2023
‘They see that we are doing all we can to win games. The push that they gave us this evening – Old Trafford was bouncing, that’s why we get results.
‘You get a goal straight after half-time and you know they’ll be behind us so the second goal was a matter of time.’
The 28-year-old added: ‘The belief of the team is always there, the belief of the fans is amazing.
‘They’ve pushed us through difficult moments this season when we’ve made great comebacks.
‘The club is made of that, we know in the past we’ve done it a lot. It’s a great result for us and we have a big match on Sunday [in the Carabao Cup final].’
