Portuguese Football in English
A red card issued to João Félix was the main talking point after Atletico Madrid’s goalless draw against Athletic Bilbao in La Liga on Saturday.
Substitute Félix, who entered the play after an hour, was sent off in the 78th minute for two yellow cards in the space of a few seconds. Having been booked for being adjudged to brush an opponent in the face, Félix quickly received a second caution for pointing his finger towards his temple in the direction of referee Gil Manzano.
Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes is into his third season at the Premier League club and he’s off to an excellent start. The Portuguese star was in the running to be named the PFA Player of the Year in each of his first two campaigns at Old Trafford, and the time may now be ripe for him to land the prestigious award for the first time.
Fernandes has been in contention for the prize that distinguishes the best player in England’s top tier in each of his two seasons in the Premier League so far. He scored 18 goals in 37 EPL matches in the 2020/2021 season and 28 goals across all competitions, indicating an exceptional return from midfield. His assist count was also hugely impressive, setting up 18 goals in total for his teammates last season.
While results were inevitably mixed for foreign-based Portuguese players across the Champions League this week, there were plenty of positive stories involving some of the biggest Luso names.
Cristiano Ronaldo continues to settle back into life at Manchester United with comfort, scoring his third goal in two matches in their surprising defeat to Young Boys in Switzerland. There was also a tremendous goal by João Cancelo for Manchester City, while Rafael Leão caught the eye for Milan at Anfield and Nuno Mendes showed positive signs during a cameo debut in the competition for Paris Saint-German.
João Félix played his first minutes of the season on Sunday, replacing Antoine Griezmann for the final half hour in Atletico Madrid’s 2-1 victory away at Espanyol in La Liga.
The Portugal international missed the early stages of the season following ankle surgery, carried out just days after the Seleção’s defeat to Belgium in the European Championships. Having struggled with the problem for much of last season, an operation was deemed inevitable and Félix says the procedure has been successful.
On a weekend of high output for Portuguese goalscorers across Europe, some of Portugal’s best-known exports hit the back of the net in the continent’s top leagues. With much of the headlines taken by Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva in England, there were also major stories in Italy, Spain, Germany and beyond as Luso players struck in 13 different countries!
Gonçalo Guedes is enjoying a promising spell with Valencia, and his goal in victory at Osasuna briefly took Los Ches top of the table in Spain. Meanwhile, a seven-goal thriller in the Bundesliga saw Borussia Dortmund overcome Bayer Leverkusen with the help of a vintage Raphaël Guerreiro free-kick, while Rafael Leão has goals in consecutive games for AC Milan after opening the scoring in their win over Lazio.
