Chapter 823 – The Ballon d'Or Returns
At noon Central European Time on November 2, 2020, UEFA's official site released the 30-man shortlist for the 2020 Ballon d'Or. Manchester United, fresh off a Champions League three-peat and four straight Premier League titles, were the big winners: ten players made the list — captain Bruno Fernandes, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé, Marcus Rashford, N'Golo Kanté, İlkay Gündoğan, Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, Virgil van Dijk, and David de Gea — a new record for most nominees from a single club.
Over the past year, United's haul remained extraordinary: Premier League, League Cup, Community Shield, Champions League, and UEFA Super Cup — five trophies — plus an FA Cup final. Even Bayern Munich's domestic treble paled in comparison, not least because United beat them in the Champions League final.
Bruno was the clear favorite. Though he finished second to Robert Lewandowski (15) in the Champions League Golden Boot race with 13 goals, he led United to another perfect-title defense in Europe, earning massive support.
In the league, his numbers were even more dazzling: 43 goals — a new single-season Premier League record — and another European Golden Shoe.
Earlier in the year he'd already beaten Lewandowski to claim UEFA Men's Player of the Year for a third straight season. His chances of adding the Ballon d'Or and The Best FIFA Men's Player again were high.
The final verdict would have to wait a little over a month.
On December 7, local time, France Football would reveal the winners in Paris.
Unlike the alternate timeline where France Football canceled the 2020 Ballon d'Or due to pandemic-shortened seasons, this year's award was proceeding as normal.
...
As the shortlist dropped, United flew by charter to Italy for Matchday 3 away to Atalanta.
Mourinho rotated again up front: Scott McTominay, Mason Greenwood, and Riyad Mahrez formed the trio, with Bruno joining Juan Mata and Jude Bellingham in midfield.
Players lined the tunnel as French referee Benoît Bastien conducted final checks. Spotting Bruno, he lingered a moment and nodded — the mark of respect for the game's current standard-bearer.
Many say he has ushered in his own era.
If 2007–2017 belonged to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's duopoly, then from 2017–2018 onward, a new epoch began — Bruno's.
With Ronaldo and Messi aging, no single superstar has mounted a sustained duel with him.
Whether from the older guard — Lewandowski, Karim Benzema — or the nominal contemporaries — Neymar, Eden Hazard, Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane — none match Bruno's all-around dominance.
Atalanta greeted them with polite smiles.
They were a seasoned side, average age twenty-seven to twenty-eight — the professional prime.
Bruno had studied them thoroughly in pre-match briefings.
Gian Piero Gasperini's devotion to attack belies Italian stereotypes — he's the new Zeman of Serie A.
Atalanta's high concession rate stems from their aggressive press and numbers pushed forward, leaving vast open spaces behind.
...
Six minutes in, Bruno pounced on space and sprang a counter.
Football's chaos is unique: twenty-two outfielders plus the referee, with only the keepers tethered to their boxes; everyone else rotating, interchanging, constantly in motion. Lose focus for a beat, and you miss the pattern.
Concentration is a fundamental skill in any sport — doubly so in football's crowded dance.
Lose that focus, and you lose the flight of the ball.
United won possession deep and João Cancelo collected left of halfway. Atalanta's right-sided defender, Rafael Tolói, failed to read the danger, assuming the ball would stay left.
Instead, Cancelo fired a diagonal over Tolói and the left center-back.
As Tolói spun to recover, Bruno flashed past like a gust, chesting the ball down in stride.
Not all Atalanta defenders switched off: Berat Djimsiti reacted quickly, sprinting across to confront him.
One-on-one, Bruno drove off his chest control, looking to shimmy clear; Djimsiti clipped him down — tactical foul.
Out came the yellow.
...
Atalanta exhaled and retreated to shape in their box.
Bruno's right-wing cross found McTominay, whose header skimmed over.
No goal yet, but within six minutes United had slapped a yellow on a center-back — Mourinho's opening gambit paying off, with Bruno already sparkling.
On the touchline, Gasperini fumed at the fourth official — harsh, he felt.
For a center-back, a booking is a shackle.
Still, had Djimsiti not fouled and Bruno reached the box, Marco Sportiello might have been helpless — the lesser evil, perhaps.
Mourinho looked relaxed from the off.
Seeing Djimsiti booked drew a grin.
The ensuing set piece didn't produce a goal, but the yield was already good.
"His short-burst explosiveness keeps growing — especially that first break," Mourinho said.
Rui Faria nodded. "Both defenders were beaten; Djimsiti had to foul or Bruno's in."
Bruno drifted deeper, motioning teammates to lean right — both men exchanged a knowing look.
Clever.
A booked Djimsiti would be tentative; Bruno's call to overload that flank was pure "attack the wound."
It was savvy gamecraft.
...
United duly tilted right.
Mahrez and Dalot — a duo built for offense — combined with Bruno to overload Atalanta's left, piling pressure on.
In the 21st minute, Greenwood switched to the top of the box; McTominay laid off to Mahrez on the right.
With no angle, Mahrez recycled to Bruno.
Bruno swept it wide to Dalot, who overlapped, drove to the right side of the area, dragged Tolói out, then zipped a square ball across the box.
Bruno, already ghosting into space, met it, faced Djimsiti, rolled it left — and lashed in with his left.
"Bruno!"
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAALLLLLL!"
"Twenty-first minute — United strike first!"
"Crisp, surgical football!"
"Left to McTominay, a touch to Mahrez, straight to Bruno, out to Dalot, then the cutback — and Bruno, one-on-one in the box, with Djimsiti hamstrung by his earlier booking, creates room and buries it!"
...
Bruno sprinted away, arms wide to the corner flag.
It looked easy — because his movement put Djimsiti on a knife's edge.
Credit to Dalot's assist, too.
When teammates mobbed him, Bruno grabbed Dalot in a bear hug.
The young Portuguese right-back was buzzing.
He'd been training every morning with Bruno, lifting after, and staying late for first-touch work — plugging gaps in strength and defending.
With the added muscle, defensive gains, and Luke Shaw's injury pushing Cancelo to left-back, Dalot had earned a starting berth.
For all of it, he had Bruno to thank.
(END CHAPTER)
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