If the assist in the 80th minute had been removed, United core Bruno Fernandez had played a foul-ridden game at Atletico's home. But football is a game of kings and losers, and the clever pass to Anthony Erlanga won a valuable draw for Manchester United and turned Fernandez from a cursed sinner into an undefeated hero.
After this game to ensure a draw, Manchester United has been unbeaten in all competitions for 10 games, and although the performance cannot be said to be perfect, it is also quite good. The same evaluation can also be applied to Fernandez, who has made many mistakes in handling the ball, but being able to contribute the last pass is success.
According to the data, Fernandez's pass success rate in this game is only 72.6%, which is only better than Rashford among the starters, and there are 3 voluntary mistakes to send the ball, which is the highest in the team.
But at the same time, Fernandez's two key passes were also the first in the team. This reflects B Fee's special style of play, which is to constantly risk trying to bring threatening passes. If he succeeds, he is a hero, and failure is inevitably criticized for too many mistakes.
Such was the case with United's battle against Atletico, where Fernandez repeatedly delivered the ball to the feet of his opponents in the first 80 minutes, which was criticized by fans on social networking sites. Fernandez himself was a little more and more eager, but a kick assist was enough to make him rewrite the situation and make the fans who had scolded him apologize.
Lady Luck took care of Fernandez this time, and United reached another milestone after the new core of Manchester United received an assist. In five Champions League group games this season, plus this round of knockout rounds, the Portuguese midfielder has assisted in six consecutive matches, becoming the first player to play for an English club to achieve this achievement. Fernandez overtook United senior David David Beckham to set an old record of five consecutive assists set by Bay Jr. in 1998.
Fernandez contributed assists in the first round of the Champions League group stage against the youngsters of Bern, the two-legged Billa Real and the two-legged match against Atalanta, and he did not participate in the home battle against the youngsters, so he was not counted.
Now, not only can Fernandez hit the stats of seven consecutive Champions League assists, but if United can advance to the next round, he also has a chance to break the Champions League single-season assist record. Currently, Liverpool's James Milner is in first place with nine assists in 2017/18, while United's Rooney and NeyMar in 16/17 are tied for second with eight.
After the game, Fernandez was still arguing with the referee about the size of the penalty in the game, and Atletico manager Diego Simeone was very angry that the team was in the superior situation but did not win the game, did not shake hands with Manchester United manager Lonnick and walked directly back to the dressing room.
It's unclear whether Simeone had an argument with Lonnick during the game, but he has criticized the manager's post-match handshake habit in English football culture in the past.
In this season's group stage, Simeone also did not shake hands with Liverpool's Klopp. "I explained, I keep my attitude." Simeone said at the time, "I don't like to shake hands after the game because the two coaches have very different emotions. I understand what the English side does, it's gentlemanly, but I'm not a gentleman, I don't do it, and I don't like this kind of false behavior. Just like I usually don't like to evaluate the way the opponent plays, this is the mutual respect between the coaches. Off the field, if you meet the opposing coach, there is no problem shaking hands."