Paulo Bernardo (footballer)

Paulo Guilherme Gonçalves Bernardo (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpawlu βɨɾˈnaɾðu]; born 24 January 2002) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Scottish Premiership club Celtic, on loan from Primeira Liga club Benfica.

Paulo Bernardo
Bernardo with Benfica in 2020
Personal information
Full name Paulo Guilherme Gonçalvés Bernardo
Date of birth (2002-01-24) 24 January 2002 (age 22)
Place of birth Almada, Portugal
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Celtic
(on loan from Benfica)
Number 28
Youth career
2010–2022 Benfica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020– Benfica B 38 (7)
2021– Benfica 17 (0)
2023Paços de Ferreira (loan) 13 (2)
2023–Celtic (loan) 19 (3)
International career
2017 Portugal U15 5 (1)
2017–2018 Portugal U16 11 (0)
2018–2019 Portugal U17 19 (4)
2019 Portugal U19 5 (1)
2021– Portugal U21 21 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:16, 13 April 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18:37, 20 November 2023 (UTC)

Club career edit

Early career edit

A product of S.L. Benfica's youth system, Bernardo played for its ranks and signed his first professional contract with Benfica on 26 February 2018.[2] He made his debut for Benfica's reserve team in a Segunda Liga match against Vilafranquense on 2 February 2020, with manager Renato Paiva praising him as one of the "future stars of the club".[3]

Benfica edit

After a promising 2020–21 season with the B team, Bernardo started the 2021–22 season, with various solid performances, leading him to be named Liga Portugal 2's Midfielder of the Month for the months of October and November.[4] On 2 November 2021, Bernardo made his first-team debut coming on the 77th minute in a 5-2 Champions League group stage defeat at Bayern Munich.[5] Later that week, on 7 November 2021, he made his Primeira Liga debut coming on for injured João Mário on the 23rd minute for a 6–1 home win against Braga.[6]

On 31 January 2023, Bernardo was loaned by Paços de Ferreira until the end of the season.[7] On 6 March 2023, Bernardo scored his first goal for Paços de Ferreira in a 2-1 loss against Casa Pia.[8]

On 1 September 2023, Scottish Premiership club Celtic announced the signing of Bernardo on a season-long loan with an option to buy.[9] On 30 December 2023, Bernardo scored his first goal for Celtic in a 2-1 win over rivals Rangers.[10]

International career edit

With the Portugal under-17s, Bernardo took participated in the 2019 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Ireland, playing four matches, scoring one goal as the team lost in the quarter-finals to Italy.[11]

On 6 September 2021, Bernardo won his first cap for the under-21 side, replacing André Almeida in the 73rd minute in a 1–0 victory against Belarus for the 2023 European Championship qualification campaign.[12]

Career statistics edit

Club edit

As of match played 16 March 2024[13][14]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Benfica B 2019–20 Liga Portugal 2 2 0 2 0
2020–21 17 4 17 4
2021–22 10 2 10 2
2022–23 9 1 9 1
Total 38 7 38 7
Benfica 2021–22 Primeira Liga 17 0 2 0 5[a] 0 24 0
2022–23 0 0 0 0 1 0 1[a] 0 2 0
Total 17 0 0 0 3 0 6 0 26 0
Paços de Ferreira (loan) 2022–23 Primeira Liga 13 2 13 2
Celtic (loan) 2023–24 Scottish Premiership 16 2 3 1 0 0 6[a] 0 25 3
Career total 84 11 3 1 4 0 12 0 102 12
Notes
  1. ^ a b c Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League

Honours edit

Individual

References edit

  1. ^ "Paulo Bernardo". S.L. Benfica. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Benfica assina com cinco jovens, entre eles um avançado "com grande futuro"" [Benfica signs with five youngsters, including a striker "with great future"]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). February 26, 2018. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  3. ^ "Renato Paiva aponta futuro cracks 'made in Seixal':"Paulo Bernardo é o próximo génio"". www.record.pt (in Portuguese). February 10, 2021.
  4. ^ "Paulo Bernardo eleito o melhor médio da Segunda Liga nos meses de outubro e novembro" [Paulo Bernardo voted Segunda Liga's best midfielder for the months of October and November]. zerozero.pt (in Portuguese). December 14, 2021. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  5. ^ "Paulo Bernardo: "O mister depositou muita confiança em mim"" [Paulo Bernardo: «The coach put a lot of trust in me»]. maisfutebol (in Portuguese). November 2, 2021. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  6. ^ "Gverreiros comidos de cebolada" [Gverreiros defeated by cebolada]. zerozero.pt (in Portuguese). November 7, 2021. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  7. ^ "PAULO BERNARDO ASSINA PELO FC PAÇOS DE FERREIRA" [Paulo Bernardo signs with Paços de Ferreira] (in Portuguese). F.C. Paços de Ferreira. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  8. ^ "Casa Pia 2-1 Paços de Ferreira (6 Mar, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. 6 March 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  9. ^ "Paulo Bernardo joins from Benfica on season-long loan". Celtic F.C. 1 September 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  10. ^ "Celtic 2-1 Rangers: Brendan Rodgers' side reassert authority with derby win". BBC Sport. 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  11. ^ "Portugal vs. Italy".
  12. ^ "Portugal vs. Belarus".
  13. ^ Paulo Bernardo at Soccerway. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  14. ^ Paulo Bernardo at ForaDeJogo (archived)

External links edit