Manchester United midfielder Fred may be in the firing line after he was sent off against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League at Old Trafford on Wednesday night, but that doesn't hide from the fact that Bruno Fernandes was strangely ineffective.

The Portuguese magnifico has turned out to be a total revelation for United after joining on a five-and-a-half year deal from Sporting Lisbon as he was quickly rewarded for his efforts with the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award.

But it's safe to say that this was far from his finest hour as Fernandes ultimately toiled in vain as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side saw their four-game winning streak snapped by the French Ligue 1 giants.

Fred was abysmal, Anthony Martial wasn't much better, but Fernandes seriously let Solskjaer down with a wasteful performance.

SofaScore gave the 26-year-old a low grade of 6.6 out of ten for his efforts - he lost possession 20 times, failed to win a single ground duel from seven attempts, was dribbled past three times and took just one shot on target.

The Mirror gave Fernandes a 6/10 rating and claimed he "tried to inspire United once again and had some nice touches, but lacked usual influence" whilst 90min went even further, insisting he 'drifted in and out of the game, not as influential as usual.'

All style, no substance, eh?

We still can't quite work out why the Portugal international played the full 90' minutes despite his obvious struggles, as Solskjaer's decision to replace Marcus Rashford with Paul Pogba makes very little sense, especially when you consider the fact that the 23-year-old was named Man of the Match for his performance.

Not only was he lacklustre, but he was uncharacteristically lightweight as well with Fred and Scott McTominay winning more ground duels than the attacking midfielder.

Maybe he'd have actually been better off replacing Fernandes with the French World Cup winner instead.

With Pogba waiting in the wings, perhaps Solskjaer could start the Frenchman further up the pitch and give Fernandes a rest as the Red Devils get ready to travel to West Ham at the weekend.

AND in other news, Manchester United must avoid signing injury-prone Barcelona flop Ousmane Dembele at all costs...