Man Utd fans gloated when Fernandes kicked the ball at De Jong
59 minutes, when the score was 1-1, De Jong pulled the ball up in the Barca yard and was pulled down by Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Fernandes approached with the intention of breaking the ball but kicked the ball hard at the Barca midfielder, who was now lying on the field.
De Jong was in pain and Fernandes was immediately surrounded by Barca players, triggering a clash between the two teams. Referee Clement Turpin yellow cards Fernandes and Franck Kessie mainly to calm hot heads, not to penalize the Man Utd midfielder's lack of fair-play behavior.
Some people criticized Fernandes' behavior, saying that he intentionally played badly against his opponent and deserved to receive a red card. "Bruno deserves to be arrested for this behavior," one person commented. "I think what Bruno Fernandes did to Frenkie De Jong while he was on the pitch should be considered violent behavior and deserves a red card," another commented.
However, the majority of Man Utd fans were gloating when they witnessed this behavior of Fernandes. Twitter account @philmufc25 wrote: "Bruno said to De Jong: You want to play Champions League? Take it". "Oh, my captain Bruno Fernandes. Maybe De Jong shouldn't waste Man Utd's time any more", account @southreddevils commented.
"Watching Bruno Fernandes kick the ball at Frenkie De Jong makes me so happy. Like: This is for rejecting us", account @_OngiriRN expressed. Another wrote: "Bruno tries to talk in a friendly way with De Jong about why he refused to come to Man Utd."
De Jong was Man Utd's top transfer target last summer. But despite the efforts of the English club, the Dutch midfielder was determined to stay at Barca for the reason that he did not want to join a team that only played in the Europa League instead of the Champions League.
However, De Jong and Barca failed to compete in the Champions League group stage and were relegated to the Europa League, where they met Man Utd in the knock-out play-off round. After drawing 2-2 in the first leg, Man Utd conceded first in the second leg at Old Trafford when Robert Lewandowski successfully kicked the penalty. It was Fernandes who fouled Alejandro Balde that led to this penalty.
However, the Portuguese midfielder redeemed himself with an assist for Fred to equalize early in the second half. Fernandes also made a mark on Antony's 2-1 goal, helping Man Utd win 4-3 on aggregate, thereby seeing Barca out of the European arena this season.
"My best moment last night was when Fernandes kicked the ball at De Jong", a Man Utd fan expressed gloating. Another shared: "I can't remember the goals. The only image in my head from last night's match was when Fernandes kicked the ball at De Jong lying on the field."
