During his nine-year stay in Manchester, Bernardo collected a remarkable 20 major trophies, including six Premier League titles, one UEFA Champions League, three FA Cup triumphs, five Carabao Cup successes, three Community Shields, a FIFA Club World Cup and a UEFA Super Cup winner’s medal, with the Portuguese most latterly captaining the Club to 2026 FA Cup glory against Chelsea.
The 31-year-old, who will say farewell to the Etihad faithful at our last game against Aston Villa this Sunday, stresses this colossal cabinet of honours wouldn’t have been possible without unconditional support from the stands.
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“I think that’s the most important thing in football,” he said of the relationship with City supporters.
“So, at the end, this is about entertainment and the main thing that football players should do is make the fans, the people that go to the stadium, feel well represented, feel that a part of them is inside the pitch.
“And when you have that connection, when you feel, when the fans feel that winning or losing, the players left it all on the pitch.
“And when you create that bond between players and fans, you’re a step closer to winning.
“They see the way that we play. We’re an attacking side, we play with our hearts on the pitch, and we always leave it all there.
“So even last season when we were going through a very difficult period, the connection was always there and we never felt that they were leaving us, they always stayed with us.
“So, I would say that connection in a football club is the most important thing for a football club to be successful.”
Watch the full interview with Bernardo above.
