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Manchester United skipper Bruno Fernandes has admitted that he and his teammates can’t run away from the club’s Premier League ambitions, despite the success they’ve enjoyed in the Europa League this season.
United remain unbeaten in the Europa League as they head into the final next week, where they will face Tottenham Hotspur.
Ruben Amorim’s men have had some very high moments in Europe, including the epic comeback over Lyon in the quarter-final as well as the 7-1 aggregate victory against Athletic Club in the last four.
However, it has been a completely different story in the Premier League. Last Sunday’s 2-0 defeat to West Ham left United languishing in 16th place in the table – just two places above the relegation zone.
The Red Devils have yet to reach 40 points and they’ve suffered 17 losses, nine of which have come at home. It’s statistically the worst top-flight campaign in the club’s modern history.
Fernandes spoke to TNT Sports and acknowledged this, going ahead to state that the Premier League is United’s bread and butter.
The Portuguese playmaker said, “We felt in the Europa League, the atmosphere from the fans, they always felt we could go to the end of this competition and win it. And obviously in the Premier League we started going behind, and behind, and behind, and they felt ‘we can’t get much more of what we want from the Premier League.”
“Because at United, you don’t want to be in the top four. You want to win the Premier League. That’s the aim and we can’t hide from that. It’s the past of the club, it’s the history of the club, and it has to be the present and the future of this club, always fighting for that trophy.”
“But as soon as they [the fans] understood that in the Europa League we could go further, we felt that, the togetherness in every game.”
“I think the Lyon game is the pinnacle of everything. In seven minutes, you can turn around three goals, it’s something unbelievable and probably not seen many times. It was that little bit of belief that everyone else had that probably in the Premier League we wouldn’t have had in a normal game.”
Fernandes emphasised that one moment of magic could define a United player’s legacy. He gave the example of Federico Macheda’s famous goal against Aston Villa in the 2008/09 title race.
“As players, we need to think: anything at this club this good [makes small gesture with fingers] becomes massive in the future.”
“People get recognised for a lot of things. For example, let’s talk about Federico Macheda. He scored two goals in two games straight away, but the first one…”
Fernandes added, “He didn’t end up having the career that everyone probably expected him to have, for many reasons, but everyone remembers him for that goal. At this club, from a split second you can get a memory for life – not only for yourself, but for the fans.”
“Every time you have an opportunity to win a trophy, to do something great, you just have to understand that a minimum thing you do great here is going to become massive. When you get this small thing right, it drives you off.”
United are back in action on Friday when they make their way to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea. Kick-off is at 20:15 BST.
Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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