Juan Bernat: 'During the tough moments, my team-mates supported me'

Firstly, let's talk about your injury and your lengthy absence. What was it like for you during that difficult year?

It was a very long year and there were very difficult moments all throughout my recovery. One week after the first operation, I had to stay in hospital for five days due to an infection. Then later, in April, I had to have another operation to clean the knee a bit, because I had fibrosis. It was a very long process and I didn't take it well to begin with, but I was very motivated. For me, it was a like a challenge. In the end, you have to accept injuries, which are the worst aspect of football. I accepted it and I worked very hard. I had only one thing in mind: to work so that I could get back to my level. After that, there are the tougher moments when you're close to coming back but in the end you can't, and obviously those are tough blows. At those times, I was able to count on the people around me – my team-mates here, my family, my friends. With them, things become a lot easier.

On that subject, what was it like being apart from the squad?

There were moments when obviously I felt a little alone, like when I had to train on my own with the physio in the gym and couldn't take part in the group dynamic. But the times when I did see them, the truth is that they always gave me a lot of love. During the tough moments, my team-mates supported me a lot by asking what I was doing, how it was going, how I was feeling. It's normal during those moments when you stop doing what you've been doing all your life to feel a bit empty, but the truth is that the people around you are there to give you a lot of strength.

It's easy to imagine some fears as well during the recovery period.

Yes, of course. At the start, I asked myself a lot of questions… When will I come back? Will I get back to my best level? Will my knee be a problem? How will I find it? But, in the end, I think there's only one thing you should think about, and that's to recover and return as fast as possible and as well as possible. After that, when you start running again, the knee isn't quite ready yet and you can still feel something. It's logical for that to be scary. In the end, I went through a long process, feeling pains, and it's normal to always have that fear. Little by little, by building confidence during training sessions, and by doing more things, that fear disappears. Then there's the fear of what level you'll play at after the injury. You need mental strength to get that out of your head, to think about what you did before the injury and tell yourself you'll get back to that level. That's the key!

And if you needed confidence, the club gave it to you… In March, you extended your contract for another four years.

Yes, that's very true. The club gave me confidence during that moment. I want to thank the club for that gesture. In truth, the bottom line is that I had a serious injury in the last year of my contract and, despite that, the club had confidence in me. They told me that and they wanted to extend my deal. Honestly, when that happened, it gave me even more motivation and energy. I'm very, very grateful to the club for that faith.

You also received a huge amount of support from the fans when you returned, and from your team-mates as well.

Yes, I've always felt that they've supported me a lot. They've given me lots of affection and I've always tried to repay it on the pitch. The emotions were very intense during my return against Angers. The hairs stand up when I think back to that moment. In the end, I waited 13 months to be able to play again. The whole crowd applauded me and chanted my name. I was genuinely moved. It was something incredible and I want to thank them for everything – for all the affection they give me.

Then, at the end of the game, all my team-mates on the pitch at that moment came over to congratulate me. They were happy for me because I was back, and that was a gesture which really touched me.

How did it feel to be out on the pitch after all that time?

In the end, it had been 13 months since I'd played a match. I'd been training for a month and a half or two months with the squad, but a training session is obviously different from a game and you can feel the difference. The day after the game, my legs felt tired again, but the truth is I really wanted to feel that. I'd wanted to experience all the fatigue that comes after a game – feeling tired, feeling dead. I felt that again, and that meant I was back.