Bernardo Silva was involved in a flashpoint with soon-to-be Liverpool star Florian Wirtz during Portugal's Nations League semi-final win over Germany, before slamming the match referee.
Portugal produced a comeback in Munich after Wirtz had scored the opening goal of the game, as Francisco Conceicao equalized before Cristiano Ronaldo's winner.
The game itself was a fiery one, with Wirtz at the center of a lot of the drama as he was involved in collisions with both Bernardo and Bruno Fernandes: in the first half, Wirtz caught Manchester United captain Fernandes with a late challenge, before Bernardo gained retribution for his teammate in the second half, tripping Wirtz on the halfway line to quell a Germany attack.
Minutes later, Bernardo was the one to hit the deck, appearing to claim that his foot had been stood on by Wirtz. As Wirtz went to offer his hand to Bernardo to lift him back up, Fernandes raced to the scene to stop that from happening, and a shoving match between the two groups of players ensued, with Wirtz receiving a yellow card for his involvement in it.
The video assistant referee did check the incident involving Wirtz and Bernardo but deemed there to have been no stamp by the Bayer Leverkusen star.
After the game, Bernardo made no secret of what he thought about the referee's performance after Wirtz's opening goal was scored in controversial fashion.
Wirtz headed the ball past Diogo Costa from Joshua Kimmich's cross, but in the buildup, Germany's Nick Woltemade, who was in an offside position, appeared to block Ruben Dias from challenging Wirtz for the ball.
"A tough game, we expected that because they have a lot of quality," Bernardo said. "Playing at home, we knew they were going to play with a lot of intensity, with a lot of energy like they always do.
"But today we played a good game. A lot of character, a lot of intensity as well from us. Going down 1-0 is not easy in the beginning of the [second] half even if the goal is offside, even if the referee doesn't know the rules but that's another question. We're happy we were able to come back."
(Image: ANP)
While his talent is undeniable, Bernardo has been an unpopular figure among Liverpool fans for several years. Bernardo really got himself in Reds supporters' bad books when he refused to clap Liverpool's players while City was giving Jurgen Klopp's team a guard of honor in July 2020.
While all of Bernardo's teammates lined up to applaud Liverpool's players on winning the club's first top-flight title for 30 years, Bernardo stood still, clearly eager for the guard of honor to end and to get on with the match.
The following month, Bernardo hit out at Liverpool fans after he was bombarded with mocking messages after City was knocked out of the Champions League.
"To all Liverpool fans that have nothing else to do than to come to a Man City player account, I'm also sorry for you but for the wrong reasons — pathetic," Silva posted on X. "Go celebrate your titles or try to find a partner, drink a beer with a friend, read a book. So many options!"
There was also a flashpoint involving Bernardo during Liverpool's win over City at Anfield last December, when Mohamed Salah squared up to him after a heavy challenge.