Covid leaves Bruno Fernandes in ‘last-minute race’ to face Atlético Madrid

Bruno Fernandes is in a “last-minute race” to be fit for Manchester United’s last-16 second leg against Atlético Madrid at Old Trafford on Tuesday after contracting Covid-19. The illness ruled the Portuguese midfielder out of Saturday’s 3-2 victory over Tottenham.

Fernandes is United’s second-highest scorer with nine goals in all competitions. Ralf Rangnick is unsure if the 27-year-old can face Atlético, in a tie poised at 1-1. Scott McTominay and Luke Shaw are also doubts owing to injury.

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“I don’t know,” the interim manager said of Fernandes. “With Scotty, I hope so but he had some muscular problems with his calf. That’s why we decided not to play him [against Spurs], because Scotty, quite like Fred, is only valuable if he can perform with 100% of his physical capacity.

“Luke hopefully will be back in training Monday and Bruno we will have to wait and see until Tuesday. This will probably be a last-minute race with him – due to Covid.”

As for Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored the second hat-trick of his United career against Spurs, Rangnick talked up his positive influence on the team. “He can be a leader with a performance like that,” he said. “This is what I have been telling him since I arrived, that with this kind of performance he can be one of the engines of the team, but we have quite a few other players who can do the same, including Fred, Harry [Maguire], Rapha [Varane], Victor [Lindelöf], whoever. Even Edi [Cavani], when he came on, the last 10 or 15 minutes showed how important and what kind of role he can still play. I wish him to be available until the end of the season.”

Rangnick joked about the recent 4-1 loss