Manchester United core Bruno Fernandez did not play in United's crucial Premier League battle against Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 when interim manager Ronnick simply said he was "sick". But this week Manchester United officially confirmed that Fernandez was positive on the coronavirus test, so he is likely to miss out on Tuesday's Champions League knockout match with Atletico Madrid.
Fernandez has scored nine goals and 14 assists this season and if he doesn't end up playing, it will certainly be a big blow to Manchester United. Coach Ronnick admitted that he also did not know whether B Fee would eventually be able to compete. Manchester United goalkeeper De Gea suffered a similar situation last weekend, when he tested positive for covid-19 on Friday, but the subsequent pre-match re-examination confirmed to be a "false positive", and finally the Spanish international still pushed Dean Henderson, who had thought he could make his first premier league appearance this season, to start to Play Tottenham.
United's other injured players include left-back Luke Shaw, who has also been hit by the coronavirus, and McTomine, who suffered a calf injury. Lonnick said: "I don't know if Bruno (Fernandez) will be able to compete. We will have to wait until Tuesday to make a decision, for him, need and time to race until the last minute, he is infected with the new crown. Luke (Shaw), who was also previously positive for COVID-19, could resume training on Monday."
Lonnick added: "As for Scott (McTomine), I hope he catches up, but he has muscle problems in his calves so we decided not to let him play Forttenham. Scott, like Fred, is only valuable if they can play 100% of their physical form."
The time of absence of a positive COVID-19 test varies from player to player. Like Varane and Luke Shaw were infected at the same time, french centre-backs have returned against Tottenham, and Luke Shaw has not yet resumed training. So the likelihood of Fernandez playing in the Midweek Champions League may not be too high. But he is still healthy at least emotionally, and during United's battle against Tottenham, Portugal's new core has commented on social networking sites many times and inspired his teammates after the game. "Great victory, congratulations to his teammates, especially Cristiano (Ronaldo), for setting another record." Fernandez wrote, "Now all the focus has shifted to the Champions League."
However, in terms of injuries, Manchester United is still a lucky side compared to their opponents Atletico Madrid. Atletico have recently won four straight and have good momentum, but Diego Simeone is expected to be missing as many as eight players in the Champions League round of 16 second leg away to Old Trafford on Tuesday.
Due to the suspension, Belgian toughster Carrasco will once again miss out against Manchester United, while the remaining seven players are injured. Lemar, Fosarico, Hermoso, Condobia, Cunha and Daniel Vass were all largely out of the game. Centre-back José Gimenez, meanwhile, injured his calf in Atletico's 2-1 la Liga win over Cádiz on Friday and is expected to be sidelined for the next three weeks.
However, Atletico midfielder Corker has returned from injury and Angel Correa will return to the field in the second leg. The two teams draw 1-1 in the first leg, and the winning side in the second leg will advance directly to the quarterfinals. According to the new rules of the Champions League this season, the away goal advantage has been abolished, so if the two teams draw, they will go into extra time and penalty shootouts.