The Portuguese attacking midfielder has been in sparkling form of late and opened the scoring in Wednesday’s superb 2-0 Champions League last 16 first leg win away to Borussia Monchengladbach.
That was our 19th successive victory across all competitions – and was one that also saw Pep Guardiola’s record-breaking squad create yet more English history by becoming to first top-flight side to win 12 away games on the bounce.
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In the course of overcoming the Bundesliga side, City also chalked up our 24th clean sheet of the season – one more than we achieved in the entirety of last season.
And Bernardo says that remarkable defensive record has helped underpin our magnificent run of form.
“It is the key to winning competitions; to have a solid defence, a solid team that doesn’t concede many chances or goals,” Bernado asserted.
“We are happy with how solid our defenders, goalkeeper and midfielders are and everyone helps from the striker to the goalkeeper.
“It is very important to be solid and try and concede as few goals as you can if you want to be successful.”
With City vying for silverware on four fronts and currently leading the Premier League by 10 points, through to the FA Cup quarter-finals, into another Carabao Cup final and still very much in the Champions League mix, it has only added to an already hectic fixture schedule for Pep Guardiola’s squad.
After flying back from Hungarian capital Budapest, where Wednesday night’s last 16 first leg tie was staged, City make a quick return to Premier League action at home to West Ham at 12.30pm on Saturday.
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That’s then followed by Tuesday night assignment at home to Wolves which heralds the start of an equally busy March schedule.
It’s relentless programme that’s both physically and mentally demanding – but it’s one that our Portuguese midfielder says the squad have become accustomed to.
“It is true that we don’t have much time to prepare but it has been like this since the last six or eight months,” Bernardo pointed out.
“We are used to it and we know how tough it is. We have four competitions to play, we need to be 100% in all of them and now we have three days to prepare for West Ham in the Premier League and we are going to get ready.
“It is 19 games winning in all competitions so we have got to keep this momentum as long as we can.
“We know how tough the next few games are going to be, but we are half way through to making a good season to try to win some titles and we have to keep working a lot because it is going to be tough.”
Five more City games will be shown live on BT Sport in the next month - including this weekend’s Premier League game at home to West Ham - so if you sign up to a BT Sport Monthly Pass then you get five games for £25 (UK viewers only).
