Bruno tops Champions League assists chart

The Portuguese playmaker missed Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Young Boys, as Ralf Rangnick rotated his side with United already safely through to the round of 16.

But none of Bruno’s closest rivals were able to overhaul his tally on the final matchday, with Ajax’s Antony closest with five.

Leroy Sane and Kylian Mbappe of Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain were next up, with the highly rated young pair having created four goals for their team-mates.

Similarly to compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored in every European game in which he has played this term, Fernandes has a 100 per cent success rate in terms of assists.

Our no.18 was provider for Ronaldo’s opener in the eventual 2-1 defeat to Young Boys in September and then he teed up Alex Telles for his equalising volley in the key home victory over Villarreal.

Fernandes conjured up two assists in our next Champions League game, October’s dramatic 3-2 comeback success over Atalanta.

Bruno’s measured through ball allowed Marcus Rashford to halve the deficit just after half-time in that game and the 27-year-old also crossed for Harry Maguire to thump home the leveller, despite Edinson Cavani initially appearing to get a touch in between.

The attacking midfielder provided another goal for Ronaldo in Bergamo at the beginning of November, with a classy backheel, and then continued his brilliant record by registering a sixth assist in Villarreal.

This time it was Jadon Sancho who benefited from Fernandes’s boundless creativity.

After impressing in the first phase of the competition, we hope there’s plenty more to come from Bruno in the new year and, who knows, perhaps he could even break a Champions League record.

The nine assists Liverpool’s James Milner was credited with during the 2017/18 season is the current mark to beat for one campaign.

Milner overtook Wayne Rooney’s previous best of eight from 2013/14, while Ryan Giggs set up seven goals 15 seasons ago.