Age has admittedly caught up with Bernardo in some respects. Last season, it was revealed that he had the lowest top speed of all outfield players in the Premier League, for example.
His 74 goals and 78 assists in 441 matches might also seem low compared to other City greats like De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, David Silva or Yaya Toure, and is one of the reasons why he receives criticism when things go wrong. But that does not do justice to the versatile role he has played in his nine years at the club.
Bernardo has so many dimensions to his game. As he has aged, his tenacity, positioning and ability to read the game have held City together. He has also not lost his technical quality, his touch, passing ability nor his dribbling. He is the archetypal Swiss Army knife who can play in every position in midfield, from an occasional anchor to a box-to-box operator, No.10 or on the left or right wing.
Against Liverpool, he played effectively all over the pitch, switching wings in the second half. In some ways, it was surprising that Bernardo was the player who equalised at Anfield, given it was his first Premier League goal of the season. But it shouldn’t have been a shock, given he always tends to make his mark in the biggest games. He has now scored four times against Liverpool, in addition to the four assists he has provided against City’s fiercest domestic rival over the last decade.