Cristiano Ronaldo was left on the bench for Portugal's win over Norway on Sunday, while Bruno Fernandes has been back on the training pitch after an injury scare. Jorge Jesus said he will “talk to him” about Ronaldo, and Portugal now have two senior players pulling the week in different directions before Denmark arrive on Thursday in the Nations League.
Ronaldo's benching
Ronaldo did not feature against Norway and did not step onto the pitch during the 15 minutes open to the media in Malmo. That has put a spotlight on his role again, even if the sources do not prove any bigger explanation for the omission.
He still has 146 international goals for Portugal, and he has said his goals are to reach 1,000 overall and help the national team win this Nations League. Portugal lead Group A4 with six points from two matches, so this is not a team scrapping to stay alive. They are also playing four matches in 11 days, which makes minutes management a real factor.
Fernandes' fitness and Portugal's timing
Fernandes reportedly trained fully alongside his Portugal teammates on Tuesday, after Jesus said that against Wales, “Bruno Fernandes came off with a complicated problem”. Sports Mole also reported that Fernandes has missed only six games for Manchester United through injury or illness since January 2020, which points to a player whose absences have usually been limited.
That does not make the issue meaningless. Fernandes has already scored four goals and added one assist in seven appearances for Manchester United this season, so Portugal would rather not lose him to a setback this close to Denmark vs Portugal.
Jesus has the cleaner problem to solve with Fernandes and the messier one with Ronaldo. One player looks likely to be available, the other is clearly frustrated by being managed carefully, and Thursday's match in the Nations League is now as much about squad control as tactics.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 5 outlets. How we work →
