Manchester United beat Athletic Club 3-0 away from home last night in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final. After Casemiro had put us a goal up, the responsibility of a penalty fell on captain Bruno Fernandes’ shoulders.
Speaking to TNT after the game, he talked about feeling the pressure he feels but his desire to keep on delivering for the club.
You need to grow and understand where you are, the place you play for and club you play for. United is a global club, it’s unbelievable the attention we get, the pressure we get, everything. But it’s football, it’s what we love to do. I feel the pressure with every penalty, I feel the pressure. I think that’s the good thing about football, it’s what we have to enjoy because when I finish my career that pressure will go away and I will be much more relaxed.
I want to score, I want to assist. It’s a big part of my game, I need to take that responsibility because I know since I came to the club, and even before, the club bought me because I scored 32 goals in one season. They knew I could create, I could score, and I just need to keep delivering, because if you want to be at the highest level, you have to keep delivering.
Taking a 3-0 lead in to the second leg is an incredible, if not very surprising, outcome from last night’s game. Fernandes talked about what an unbelievable result it was.
You can never predict a scoreline like that – a very tough team, the atmosphere was unbelievable. I knew they [Athletic fans] were very passionate about the club and everything but I never thought it was like this, it was very good, but I love these atmospheres, I love to play in these kind of stadiums, it’s very good.
The result for us is unbelievable. We could in the first half get that result and then in the second half control the game. I think we should push a little bit more in the second half, be that little bit quicker on the ball to go forward, but we controlled the game and that is good.
Rio Ferdinand, working on commentary for TNT, asked Fernandes whether United would be back at the Europa League final in Bilbao in three weeks time.
That’s the goal – and that’s what I said, we want our fans to travel to Bilbao twice, and ourselves, too.
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