Fernandes disagrees with Ronaldo on Portugal 'fresh air'

Bruno Fernandes does not believe Portugal needed the "breath of fresh air" that Cristiano Ronaldo was looking forward to under Roberto Martinez.

Martinez has taken charge of Portugal for the first time in this international break, having succeeded Fernando Santos following the World Cup.

The former Belgium coach has overseen 4-0 and 6-0 defeats of Liechtenstein and Luxembourg respectively to begin Euro 2024 qualifying.

Captain Ronaldo scored twice in each match, having earlier spoken of "fresh air now, different ideas and mentality" with Martinez at the helm.

Despite the positive start, that is not an assessment team-mate Fernandes agrees with.

"No, it's just a new coach with new ideas," the Manchester United midfielder told RTP3 after Sunday's win against Luxembourg.

"There is no breath of fresh air at all. It's just a transition period.

"The atmosphere in the national team has always been good. There's never been anything that wasn't fresh of the air, so I think it's just new dynamics, new coach, and you have to assimilate his ideas."

Fernandes was handed his Portugal debut by Santos, who had guided the Selecao to their first major honour at Euro 2016.

Portugal failed to build on that strong start to the coach's tenure, however, exiting the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2020 at the last-16 stage.

Santos then departed after a shock quarter-final exit at the hands of Morocco at Qatar 2022, with Ronaldo dropped for the knockout rounds.