![\"Bruno](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_Bruno-Fernandes.jpg\")
Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes missed Portugal’s game against the Republic of Ireland(Image: Lars Baron\/Getty Images)<\/p>\nManchester United star Bruno Fernandes not featuring for Portugal against Ireland has sparked injury fears but those have been swiftly eased<\/p>\n
19:11, 13 Nov 2025Updated 19:23, 13 Nov 2025<\/p>\n
Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes missed Portugal’s game against the Republic of Ireland(Image: Lars Baron\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Bruno Fernandes was a noticeable absentee from Portugal’s squad to face Ireland in a crucial World Cup qualifier on Thursday evening. Worries over a potential injury for the Manchester United<\/a> captain subsequently developed but his absence is actually due to a suspension.<\/p>\n In last month’s 2-2 draw against Hungary, the midfielder hit the number of bookings required to serve a ban which means he is unavailable for this match. Fernandes will certainly be annoyed that he cannot have an impact as a victory could see Portugal qualify for next summer’s tournament.<\/p>\n Not featuring could actually do Fernandes and United some good with the Portuguese press expressing their concerns about him last month.<\/a> Renascenca<\/a> reported that he showed signs of “physical fatigue,”<\/p>\n Elsewhere A Bola<\/a> awarded him a 6\/10 rating stating he did not have a big say on the game: “He hit the post once in the second half, but that was perhaps the only time he managed to find space in the central corridor.<\/p>\n “For this reason, he often appeared close to the line, especially on the left, but without gaining any influence.”<\/p>\n While it is possible he is suffering physically, given how much he plays, there is no concerns over an actual muscular injury with his absence this evening known about way ahead of time.<\/p>\n Ruben Amorim’s midfield role for Fernandes makes him extremely important when it comes to United progressing the ball and moving through the thirds. Playing in a deeper position has seen him less involved in goals but that is starting to change.<\/p>\n Fernandes has grabbed an assist in three of United’s last four games with those coming against Tottenham, Nottingham Forest and Liverpool<\/a>. He also played a crucial role in Bryan Mbeumo’s fourth against Brighton with an exquisite dummy before the Cameroon international fired in his second of that 4-2 win.<\/p>\n At Anfield, it was his superb first-time delivery that was tucked away by Harry Maguire while Casemiro and Matthijs de Ligt have headed home Fernandes corners against Forest and Spurs, respectively<\/p>\n Despite his absence for the trip to Ireland, Fernandes will be hoping to keep up that impressive record with his national team. That is because they have another fixture in just a few days against Armenia that he will be available for.<\/p>\n That clash comes eight days before United are next in action as they face Everton under the Old Trafford<\/a> lights on Monday, November 24. Fixtures against Crystal Palace, West Ham United, Wolves and Bournemouth follow that.<\/a><\/p>\n Fernandes will almost certainly be needed in the attacking third for games around the Christmas<\/a> and New Year period as Amorim’s side take on Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Wolves and Leeds United all without Amad and Mbeumo due to AFCON.<\/p>\n Here at The Manchester Evening News, we are dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester United<\/a> coverage and analysis.<\/p>\n Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest United news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here<\/strong><\/a> to subscribe.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here<\/strong><\/a> to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.<\/p>\n And, finally, if you would rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Manchester is Red podcast. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify<\/strong><\/a> and Apple Podcasts<\/strong><\/a>, and you can also watch along on YouTube<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes not featuring for Portugal against Ireland has sparked injury fears but those have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":568364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,873,393,4884,2465,423,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-568363","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-bruno-fernandes","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-manchester","13":"tag-manchester-united-fc","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115544308760824213","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=568363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1763066129_852_0_Bruno-Fernandes.jpg\")
(Image: (Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA\/Getty Images))<\/p>\n