Global football is currently on pause for the most part, but the Premier League has been given the all clear to restart sometime next month, with matches to be played behind closed doors.
There are still plenty of questions regarding Project Restart, but training has resumed, and there is confidence that the EPL will return. Until football restarts, we still have plenty of news items to cover and analyze. So let’s take a spin through the United newsphere in cyberspace.
We start up with midfield maestro Bruno Fernandes, discussing his hero and idol Cristiano Ronaldo.
Fernades, in an interview with the club’s official website, named his favorite all-time Ronaldo moment; as well as his favorite Premier League moment so far.
The late January transfer window addition named CR7’s header which gave United the early lead in the 2008 Champions League final win over Chelsea.
“I think from history I have maybe one game – the Champions League final when Cristiano scores with the header,” the former Sporting CP man said.
“After this, he misses a penalty, I think it’s the same one right, against Chelsea? This one. I think it was a great final and for Cristiano it was one of the best games yet, because he scored an amazing goal with a header. He doesn’t jump, he flies.”
“After this, he missed the penalty, but United won the Champions League and at the end we see him crying on the ground because he won the Champions League. It was one of the most important games in the history of Manchester United.”
Chelsea would equalize, but United would eventually win the match and with it the ultimate glory, in a penalty kick shoot-out.
Moving back to the current season, United are undefeated since Fernandes arrived, as his creative play-making ability has totally reshaped the team. He said the 3-0 win over Watford, where he achieved his first scoring strike in a United shirt, was his favorite Premier League moment so far.
“The game I would like to watch would be the game where I scored my first goal, against Watford,” Bruno continued on in the same interview.
“I want to feel – not exactly how I would feel in the game – but I can feel the game, the atmosphere and everything when I score.”
“[If I watch this] I can have the motivation to keep training and keep the focus on the return of the game [after the COVID-19 pandemic].”
In keeping with the midfielder naming his favorite moment/goal theme, Juan Mata articulated this to the club’s official Twitter account.
“My first goal was against Aston Villa, at the Stretford End,” the Spaniard said.
“It was a messy goal, not very beautiful, but I think it was eight or nine games without scoring for the club so it was very important for me.
“The goal in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace, we were losing and it was almost the end of the game, so when I scored I was also happy in that I helped the team to win.
“The game at Anfield, I always come back to it, why not? The Europa League final as well, I enjoy thinking about them, and hopefully, many more to come.”
? My #MUFC Moment: @JuanMata8 ?
Take a trip down memory lane with our no.8 as he walks you through his United best bits ? pic.twitter.com/1ry1iwgPXb
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) May 22, 2020
Mata also opened up on his time at United so far, and looked forward to the future:
“I don’t want to stop here, I want to keep going and going, and keep adding games in a United shirt.” (Manchester Evening News has more)
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for Chicago Tribune.com, on Twitter and his cat on Instagram.
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