Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes left his teammates in disbelief with his exceptional fitness test results upon returning from the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. The Portuguese midfielder, 31, will not be among the group returning to Old Trafford for pre-season on Thursday due to his World Cup commitments with Portugal, which ended after a 1-0 loss to Spain in the round of 16 on Monday.
Lockdown Fitness Feat
Fernandes joined United in January 2020, but after just two months, the Premier League season was suspended for three months due to the pandemic. Teams were banned from meeting in person, with players maintaining fitness through Zoom sessions and home workouts. Despite the lack of collective training, Fernandes not only maintained his elite physical condition but improved it.
According to the Manchester Evening News, the midfielder actually increased his pace during lockdown. Acceleration is not considered one of Fernandes' strongest attributes, yet he ranked among the fastest players at the club, achieving a top speed of 34.27 km/h based on sprints over 5.5 metres. Each United player's fitness was tracked remotely using the STATS sport GPS player tracker, a system used by 10 other top-flight clubs.
Club Success, World Cup Disappointment
Fernandes enjoyed a stellar individual campaign with United in the 2025/26 season, winning the FWA Footballer of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season. However, he failed to replicate that form at the World Cup, scoring no goals and registering just one assist for Portugal.
Speaking after the defeat to Spain, Fernandes lamented his team's defensive approach. He said: "It's a sad moment. We had the clear objective of winning the World Cup, but we weren't at our best. In the first half, we were superior, but in the second half we made the mistake again of dropping too deep and giving the ball to the opponent. When that happens, we end up suffering."
Fernandes added: "Spain deserves credit, but I believe that if we had continued doing what we were doing in the first half, we would have left here with a different result. It's sad how we left the tournament, we had the quality for more. We faltered by giving Spain too much of the game, which is what they really want. Then our legs start to get heavy, the spaces start to get bigger. We should have continued to be aggressive, tried to prevent Spain from playing so much, we should have played more with the ball, we have the quality for that and we ended up losing ourselves a little."
He concluded: "It's a missed opportunity, we had the quality to win the World Cup. We couldn't get the best out of everyone in the best way and we left the World Cup prematurely."
