Bernardo Fernandes da Silva Junior (born 14 May 1995), known simply as Bernardo, is a Brazilian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a full-back or

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for German club

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German professional association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. They currently play ...

Club career

Early career

Bernardo started his career at Audax São Paulo, before moving to

Red Bull Brasil Red Bull Bragantino II was a professional association football club based in Bragança Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil. The team last played in the Campeonato Paulista Série A3, the third tier of the São Paulo state football league, before reque ...

, the Brazilian

Red Bull GmbH Red Bull GmbH () is an Austrian multinational private conglomerate company that created the Red Bull range of energy drinks. It is also known for its sponsorship, wide range of sporting events and Works team, teams. The headquarters of Red Bull ...

football team, in 2012. He made three appearances for the Red Bulls in the 2014 edition of the

Campeonato Paulista Série A2 Campeonato Paulista Série A2 is the second tier of the professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF). Clubs 2025 Série A2 List of champions There a ...

, before being sent out on loan to Ponte Preta. He failed to make a single appearance for the Macaca, being selected three times for the bench, before being sent back to the Red Bulls. In his final season with the Red Bulls, he made three appearances in the

2015 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D The 2015 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D, the fourth level of the Brazilian League, was contested by 40 clubs, and started on July 12 and ended on November 15, 2015. The four teams in the semifinals were promoted to the 2016 Campeonato Brasileiro S� ...

RB Leipzig

Bernardo joined Red Bull Salzburg on 1 January 2016 from

. He made his Red Bull's debut on 7 February 2016 in the 2–1 Bundesliga victory over Admira. Bernardo was sent off in only his third Bundesliga game, against Rheindorf Altach for a second bookable offence. Bernardo joined

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig or informally as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company ...

on 28 August 2016 for a reported fee of £3.4m. Bernardo made 32 appearances for Leipzig in his first season including playing in all 6 Champions League games. In his second season, he played 27 games for Leipzig.

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 5 July 2018, Bernardo joined

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

from Leipzig for £9 million. Bernardo made his debut for the Sussex club on 11 August in a 2–0 away loss to

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

. He made a total of 22

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

appearances in his first season with Brighton. He scored his first goal for ''The Seagulls'' on 17 September 2020 in a 4–0 home victory over

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

Loan to Red Bull Salzburg

On 19 January 2021, Bernardo returned to Red Bull Salzburg on a loan until the end of the season. 5 days later he made his return to action for Salzburg coming on as a substitute in the 61st minute in a 2–0 away win at

SCR Altach Sportclub Rheindorf Altach, also known as Rheindorf Altach, SCR Altach or simply SCRA, is an Football in Austria, Austrian association football club based in Altach, Vorarlberg. It plays in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The club is currently ...

, in what also happened to be his 100th league appearance of his career. On 27 January, Bernardo made his first start on his return in his second appearance starting in a 3–0 home victory over

SV Ried SV Ried, commonly known as SV Guntamatic Ried for sponsorship reasons, is an Austrian association football club based in Ried im Innkreis, Upper Austria. The team plays its home matches at Josko Arena, a stadium with a capacity of 7,680. The t ...

, going off injured in the 61st minute after being caught up in a rumble. He returned to action on 13 March, coming on as a substitute in a 3–1 home victory over Admira. On 1 May Bernardo came on as a 77th minute substitute replacing

Zlatko Junuzović Zlatko Junuzović (, ; born 26 September 1987) is an Austrian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. From 2006 to 2017 he played for the Austria national team. He was known as a free-kick specialist. Early life Junuzović ...

in the 2020–21 Austrian Cup Final, coming on 2–0 up over

LASK Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub, commonly known as LASK (), or Linzer ASK, is an Austrian professional football club based in Upper-Austrian state capital Linz. It is the oldest football club in that region, and plays in the Austrian Football Bundes ...

, eventually winning the final 3–0 with an 88th minute goal scored by

Enock Mwepu Enock Mwepu (born 1 January 1998) is a Zambian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Having begun his career in his native Zambia, Mwepu signed for Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg in 2017 before moving Brighton & Hove Alb ...

. This Bernardo's second

Austrian Cup The Austrian Cup (), known as UNIQA ÖFB Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB. During the 2008–09 season, Austria Wien won the tournament for a record 27th time. Wo ...

title with the club after winning the 2015–16 competition where he played whole match of that final. Bernardo scored his first goal since his return on 22 May, the last game of the season, as the already confirmed champions thrashed

WSG Wattens Wattener Sportgemeinschaft Tirol (), commonly known as WSG Tirol, is a professional association football club based in the town of Wattens, Tyrol (state), Tyrol, Austria, that competes in the Austrian Football Bundesliga, the top tier of the A ...

4–0 at home, with the return of fans in the game described by the Salzburg website as a 'Title Party.'

Permanent return to Red Bull Salzburg

Bernardo signed for Salzburg on a permanent deal on 2 July 2021 after a successful loan spell in the second half of the previous season. On 16 July 2021, Bernardo scored the opener in the

in a 4–1 away win against WSC Hertha Wels. Bernardo helped Salzburg to a fourth consecutive double – his third overall with the club – and a ninth consecutive league title with another successful campaign.

VfL Bochum

On 2 August 2023, Bernardo signed a two-year contract with

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

. He finished his first season at Bochum in 2023–24 as the player with most duels won in the league in 504 occasions.

Personal life

Bernardo is the son of former Brazil international footballer

Bernardo Fernandes da Silva Bernardo Fernandes da Silva or simply Bernardo (born 20 April 1965) is a retired Brazilian Association football, football player. He is now a player agent. His son Bernardo Fernandes da Silva Junior is also a footballer. Career statistics Club ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Red Bull Salzburg *

Austrian Football Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

: 2015–16,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, 2021–22,

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

https://www.redbull.com/int-en/red-bull-salzburg-10-in-a-row *

: 2015–16,

, 2021–22

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernardo 1995 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Red Bull Bragantino II players FC Red Bull Salzburg players FC Liefering players RB Leipzig players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players VfL Bochum players Campeonato Brasileiro Série D players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Bundesliga players Premier League players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Footballers from São Paulo Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football midfielders 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen