Fernandes limps out of Old Trafford after 90 minutes, raising derby fitness doubts

Bruno Fernandes hobbled away from Old Trafford on Wednesday night after playing the full 90 minutes of Manchester United’s 4-0 Champions League win over Sabah, leaving his fitness for Sunday’s Manchester derby in question.

The United captain scored in the first half and helped his side into a commanding 3-0 lead at the break, but took a bang to the hip and a heavy kick late in the second half that left him briefly on the ground. With manager Michael Carrick making all five of his permitted substitutions — removing Youri Tielemans, Kobbie Mainoo, Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu — Fernandes was the one senior player left on the pitch despite the game being long decided.

Carrick acknowledged the situation was far from ideal but said his hands were tied by the substitution rules. “We only had five subs! We had to make certain decisions on what that looked like,” he said. “But, of course, he’s like anybody else. He has played an awful lot, but I think we’re developing the group and the squad to be able to accommodate that in different ways. Tonight was just one of those things, there were decisions to be made and he ended up staying on.”

Fernandes has now played every minute of Carrick’s 21 games in charge since January, and has missed just 10 of United’s 244 Premier League fixtures since joining from Sporting in January 2020. The 32-year-old’s durability has been a cornerstone of United’s season, but with only three days between the Sabah win and the first derby of the campaign against Enzo Maresca’s side, his recovery time is minimal.

Carrick spoke to the media before his captain was seen limping and did not give a definitive update on his condition, but insisted he intends to manage Fernandes’s workload more carefully going forward. “He has played an awful lot,” the manager repeated, stopping short of confirming whether Fernandes would be assessed before the weekend.

Luke Shaw also missed the Sabah game after sitting out training on Wednesday and faces his own fitness check ahead of the derby. “We just kind of looked after him a little bit going into tonight,” Carrick said. “He wasn’t quite ready for it 100%, so we didn’t risk it. We’ll see how he is over the next couple of days or so.”