Celtic midfielder Paulo Bernardo doesn’t think his side’s top-of-the-table clash with Aberdeen on Wednesday is their biggest game of the season.
The 22-year-old instead insists that in a 38-match league campaign, every fixture is equally important, and none ranks higher than another.
Bernardo, who joined the Hoops permanently from Benfica in the summer after impressing on loan last season, doesn’t see any match as particularly key because they all are significant: “I think every game is very important to us,” he said (RecordSport).
“I don’t have one game that I think of as the biggest in the season because we have 38 games.
“We need to win every game and to show that we can always compete. If we hadn’t won on Saturday, Aberdeen would be closer to us before Wednesday.
“It will be a good game [against Aberdeen]. It’s first against second, and those are always good games, but I don’t see it as the biggest game of the season. We will try our best and try to win the game as always.”
While Bernardo doesn’t see Wednesday as a standout, critical game, it is a significant opportunity for Celtic to stamp their authority on the Scottish Premiership.
Indeed, a win would see them move seven points clear of Aberdeen, with a game in hand, resultantly killing any pipe dreams of a Dons title challenge.
For the match, Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers has a fair few selection dilemmas, particularly in midfield. Bernardo and Luke McCowan scored and impressed at the weekend against Ross County and more than threw their hats in the ring for respective midweek starts.
It remains to be seen whether their exploits will be rewarded as the manager’s engine room headache prolongs.
Captain Callum McGregor will undoubtedly get the nod, but which pairing of quartet Arne Engels, Reo Hatate, Bernardo, and McCowan starts is up in the air.
