Paulo Bernardo stockpiling big Celtic vs Rangers moments but he's staying wary despite record

It didn’t officially count as an assist but Paulo Bernardo is claiming it anyway.

As he relishes a return to Hampden on Sunday to cross swords with Rangers again, the Portuguese midfielder still savours his key role in Celtic’s victory in the last Old Firm cup final. When Bernardo picked the ball up in the 90th minute of a tense Scottish Cup showpiece in May, he swept forward and unleashed a shot which Jack Butland found too hot to handle.

When the Rangers keeper could only spill it into the path of Adam Idah, the striker had the simplest of tasks to score the only goal of the afternoon and clinch a domestic double for the Hoops. “Yeah, I think it was as good as an assist,” said Bernardo with a smile. “When I hit the shot, I felt it had a chance of doing something. That’s why I took the shot!

“It was a good run and Adam was there to finish the play, so it is a good memory. After that, we could lift the trophy, so it was really good. I think that memory helps going into Sunday’s game but it’s in the past. We need to focus on the present and do our best in this game.”

Bernardo has already stockpiled a decent store of Old Firm memories from his relatively short time at Celtic. He scored a stunning goal in his debut in the fixture, a 2-1 win at Celtic Park in December 2023, and is unbeaten in his four appearances against Rangers so far.

“Every game against Rangers is really intense,” said the 22-year-old. “So we need to be prepared for that and to play as well as we can and show our football.

“Apart from it being against Rangers, it’s a final so I’m very excited to play in this game. I think it will be a very good game and we will do our best. We can learn from those games against them before but it’s a fresh start because