It’s a big week for Bruno Fernandes, as not only is the skipper a contender in the Player of the Year awards that are right now being voted for, but he also stars on the front cover of the new edition of club magazine Inside United, on sale from today (Tuesday).
As you can see, in his Inside United cover shot, Bruno is decked out in the beautiful white European Cup Winners’ Cup shirt that has recently been rebooted by adidas in their Bring Back 91 collection.
Inside the issue, which debuted at Old Trafford on Sunday and is now on general sale, Bruno pays homage to the magnificent fans who have been by the side of the players through thick and thin during a testing campaign.
“We do appreciate everything you guys are doing, even the small things,”
he says. And in reference to the upcoming Europa League final, Bruno’s message is: “The thing I would say to you all is to try to keep believing in us as much we do believe in ourselves to win this competition, because we want it as much as you guys.”
And elsewhere in the magazine, United’s amazing supporters are also front of mind for Matthijs de Ligt, who gives an in-depth interview on his experiences during a “crazy” first season as a Red since signing from Bayern Munich in the summer. Namechecking the Europa League match against Lyon in particular, Matthijs says, “Probably my best memories will be these moments where you feel really like the crowd and the players together are connecting in a way that is so lovely to see.”
“This togetherness can really give us an extra man on the pitch; that’s the feeling that I have. Obviously the results haven’t been that good this season, but the moments we played well and we were winning, you could feel it. So could you imagine if you win more games and if there is even more togetherness, then it will be even more. So they will be my favourite moments; these moments of togetherness with the crowd.”
Meanwhile, United Women have a huge game to look forward to, the Adobe FA Cup final against Chelsea at the weekend, and Gabby George is the team’s representative talking magazine readers through the road to Wembley that the girls have been on, picking their way through the rounds against lower-league opposition before knocking out Manchester City in a titanic semi-final.
“We just prepared for it like we had to win,”
the defender says of that showdown. “It was the semi-final – we’re either winning or we’re out of the FA Cup. And we knew at the start of the season that we wanted to retain our FA Cup and be able to compete for it again at Wembley. So we knew we had to go out and win that game.”
That’s just what Marc Skinner’s team did, of course, setting up the showpiece against the west Londoners, who, impressively, went unbeaten in the WSL to retain their title.
“The FA Cup is a one-off game and you go in to win,” Gabby stresses. “Both teams are going in to win. We have to just showcase what we can do and give everything on that day because it’s an FA Cup final. It’s not a league game; it’s not about getting points. It’s about the here and the now. We’re going to give everything we can to win that game because, of course, we want to keep the trophy.”