It has been a very tough season for Cristiano Ronaldo till now. At Manchester United he spends most of the time on the bench whereas for Portugal he is struggling to score goals. The Portuguese talisman failed to find the net against Czech Republic and Spain. He had a lot of chances against La Roja but could not finish any of them which eventually resulted in a 1-0 loss for Portugal.
It was Alvaro Morata’s 88th minute strike that helped Spain win the tight clash against Fernando Santos’ men as there were criticisms flying around from everywhere on Ronaldo and his inability to score goals. AMid all the criticism, Manchester United and Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes has jumped in to defend him and has shared that there is nothing to make a soap opera out of it and how bad phases come and go.
Like a true teammate, Bruno Fernandes has taken a stand for his teammate and compatriot, Cristiano Ronaldo who is going through a very torrid phase in his career. The Manchester United man missed big chances in front of goal as Santos’ men had plenty of chances to beat Spain in this game. He only had 30 touches and was frustrated throughout due to lack of supply. However when the supply came his shooting boots were not on.
After the match, Bruno Fernandes defended Ronaldo and tried to justify his reactions of him being frustrated with the supply and also the result. “Cristiano is here to help and will continue to help. It’s ok. Frustration is normal, he wants to win and score goals. There’s no need to make a soap opera around him. The goals will appear, they are phases. Have more peace of mind,” the Manchester United midfielder told the media after the match (via OJogo).
This has been a very poor start to the season for Ronaldo as he only made a single start to the season for the Red Devils in the Premier League. In fact it was the game where they lost 4-0 against Brentford. He was then benched by Erik ten Hag and that has been the case ever since. He has only featured in the lesser important Europa League games. Overall he has scored one goal in eight appearances this season for the club. His only goal came against FC Sheriff that too from a penalty spot.
So with the World Cup coming up, this form is concerning for Ronaldo and Portugal fans. They will hope and pray that their talismanic figure rises to the occasion as he has done so often. It will be a massive litmus test for Ronaldo in Qatar as it will answer a lot of things.
