Why was Bruno Fernandes booked against Sevilla? Europa League suspension explained
By Euan Burns
It was not a good night in the Europa League for a number of reasons on Thursday for Manchester United. The Premier League side are the favourites to win the trophy but their task is suddenly much harder.
Despite such a dominant start to the quarter-final home leg against La Liga side Sevilla, United drew the game 2-2 and face a return leg in which they could be without a number of players for a variety of reasons.
One of those missing players will be Bruno Fernandes, but he is suspended rather than injured. Here is the controversial incident explained.
Bruno Fernandes' Sevilla yellow card
Manchester United started the game at Old Trafford extremely well and after Marcel Sabitzer had scored twice to make it 2-0, it seemed Erik ten Hag's side could get the tie wrapped up very early with another couple of goals.
Sevilla had the odd moment with the ball in the first half and one of those moments came when Nemanja Gudelj unleashed a shot from range. The powerful drive was charged down by Bruno Fernandes a mere split second after leaving the boot of Gudelj.
The ball hit the Portuguese midfielder's elbow and referee Felix Zwayer immediately blew for a handball. His arm was away from his body so the free-kick was not an awful decision, but he also produced a yellow card straight away which was to the amazement of everyone watching the game, and especially Fernandes.
That yellow card means Fernandes has met the threshold for a one-match suspension in the Europa League, so he is out of the second leg next week. Given United's dominance at that stage of the game, many viewed it as a beneficial situation as United had full control of the tie and it would force Ten Hag to give Fernandes a rest, something he almost never gets.
By the end of the game, though, all of the anger at the yellow card had come flooding right back.
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Man Utd's second half nightmare against Sevilla
There was a stark contrast between the first half and second half for United. Having blown Sevilla away in the first 45, the Red Devils looked passive in the second and Sevilla began to grow into the game, even if they weren't producing anything in the way of clear-cut chances.
Some poor defending from Tyrell Malacia and a subsequent own goal suddenly let Sevilla right back into the tie and that was followed up by Lisandro Martinez being carried off the pitch in tears having seemingly damaged his Achilles, an injury that can require plenty of time out of action. United had used their subs so they were down to ten players, with Raphael Varane going off earlier in the half with a new injury.
The terrible half was concluded when Youssef En-Nesyri's header, which was going well wide of the goal, bounced back off Harry Maguire's face and nestled in the bottom corner of David de Gea's net.
On Martinez's injury, Ten Hag told MUTV: "There was no opponent involved so it doesn't look that great but we have to wait. The medical staff have to do their job, to give the right diagnosis.
“I cannot tell what it is, but is not an Achilles," he said. "I have spoken with him and he is okay and he is calm. I think [it is] an injury [that means] he will not play on Sunday. I cannot say what the diagnosis [is]. I prefer to wait and to know what it is."
Who will Man Utd be missing against Sevilla?
Players will need to be assessed over the next week or so but as things currently stand, United could be without Marcus Rashford, Fernandes, Varane, Martinez, Luke Shaw, Alejandro Garnacho and Scott McTominay.
The first five names on that list are undoubtedly members of United's best starting XI, while Garnacho and McTominay have proved to be very important rotation options for Ten Hag over the course of the season.