Fernando says Manchester City cannot waste their opportunity to qualify for next season's Champions League after being handed a second chance.
City have been in the top four of the Premier League all season but a draw at home to Arsenal in Manuel Pellegrini's final game at the Etihad last Sunday meant they could have slipped to fifth below rivals Manchester United in midweek.
However, Louis van Gaal's side were beaten by West Ham United on Tuesday night meaning City now need just a point from their last match at Swansea City to be certain of a top-four finish.
Fernando says City cannot afford to miss out on Champions League next season when new boss Pep Guardiola will be in charge.
He said: "I didn't watch the West Ham game but obviously learned of the result after it had finished. But the fact is, with the players we have, we should never be in a situation where we are relying on other teams to make sure we finish in the top-four. Now we have a second chance and we have to make sure we take it."
It all comes down to this... #swansvcity, final day drama and farewells.
READ: https://t.co/4YKqL7oX6c #mcfc pic.twitter.com/et9IMysgHu
- Manchester City FC (@MCFC) May 13, 2016
Fernando helped Manuel Pellegrini's win the Capital One Cup in February and started all six knockout games as City reached the semifinals of the Champions League for the first time in the club's history.
However the Brazilian midfielder insists the season cannot be considered a success unless they secure a top-four finish and Champions League football for next season.
He added: "We still have one game to play and the opportunity to qualify for the Champions League -- if we fail, we can't class this as a good season.
"If we do, I think it's been a reasonable season overall because we will have at least finished fourth in the Premier League, won the Capital One Cup and got to the semifinals of the Champions League.
"So in my opinion, we have to reserve judgement on our campaign until after Sunday's game."
Pellegrini has said he will play to win against Swansea despite only needing a point and Fernando agrees it is the right way to approach his final game in charge.
"We need to go for the win and play with the same intensity we did against Arsenal," he added.
"We can still finish third if Arsenal lose to Aston Villa -- and we've seen that anything can happen this season -- so we must forget about the draw and just go for three points."