Celtic midfielder Paulo Bernardo was on target for the Portugal under-21s on Friday evening.
Rui Jorge’s side were in European Championship qualification action where they battered Belarus 6-1. Bernardo played 75 minutes of the match and netted his side’s fourth goal of the evening — a cool right-footed finish from just inside the box.
The central midfielder, on a season-long loan at us from Benfica, actually has a pretty impressive goalscoring record at international youth level.
Friday’s strike was his sixth already for his country, in around 15 matches. It’s clear that he has the ability to score goals, and his latest one will be a welcome boost ahead of his Celtic return later next week.
Bernardo is yet to start a match for us and has actually only made three sub appearances so far. While he has taken time to get up to speed following a difficult pre-season in Lisbon, it seems like he is ready to go now.
The big Celtic question now after his latest exploits is where he fits into Brendan Rodgers’ midfield. When on their game, Callum McGregor, Matt O’Riley and Reo Hatate are all pretty undroppable.
McGregor is our captain, Hatate arguably our most talented player and O’Riley our best performer so far this season. It’s a really tough ask for Bernardo to force a starting spot.
Regardless, the Celtic support will want to see more from the 21-year-old. So far we have seen a few neat passes and shots from a distance. We are still waiting on our first proper look.
Most of us had him down as a tidy midfielder who can move the ball well, so it is encouraging to see that he has this goalscoring side to his game. He could show that soon after the international break, although neither Tynecastle, Easter Road or Atletico Madrid seem like great games to hand him a first start.
But that is coming at some stage. It will be interesting to see what he offers us.
In other news, watch beaming Celtic star show off a different kind of threat with international impact footage
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