Paulo Bernardo has starred in the Glasgow Derby in the past. At the weekend, he started against the Rangers at Hampden Park in the final of the Scottish League Cup. That must have been a confidence-boosting moment for the Portuguese midfielder, who has been in and out of the Celtic starting XI despite his relatively impressive and consistent displays this season.
Bernardo was on the pitch for 71 minutes before being replaced by Arne Engels. And he could only watch from the sidelines as Celtic allowed the Rangers to equalise twice before the Hoops ultimately won the game on penalties.
There are many Rangers fans, and those within the club, who appear to believe that they should be given a spot-kick on the night. No matter which side of that debate you stand on, the fact of the matter is that Celtic won the game and lifted their 119th trophy at the weekend.
Bernardo does not seem to be paying much heed to the penalty incident though and views Celtic as the deserving winners of the Scottish League Cup. As reported by the Daily Record, the Portuguese midfielder said:
"We don't focus on that decision. We just move forward now.
"We won the trophy after a very good game and that's all we think about. It was a difficult game on Sunday.
"Both teams played well and it was a good game for supporters to watch. But we had almost 70 per cent of the ball and I think we deserved to win the cup.
"In the final moments, we had the quality to win the game and the players did so well in the shootout. When it came to the big pressure moments, we delivered. Our objective was to win the trophy and we managed to do that."
Rangers fans won't like Paulo Bernardo's comments about Celtic's Scottish League Cup win
It is safe to say that Rangers supporters won't like Bernardo's comments. It would be safe to assume that the Portuguese midfielder won't be particularly worried about that either.
To be honest, it is a positive that the Rangers seem to be focusing on that penalty decision rather than worrying about the areas in which they came short and trying to improve upon them. Hopefully, they continue to do that.
Celtic had a bad day at the office in the final of the Scottish League Cup with no real standout performers. And yet, they had enough in the tank to defeat their closest rivals.