Bernardo Silva turns Real Madrid question on its head with Man City claim

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Manchester City captain Bernardo Silva spoke about what his team need ahead of a massive Champions League task

Bernardo Silva has called on his teammates to produce a 'Manchester City night' to knock the kings of the Champions League out of the competition. Real are 3-0 up from the first leg but the Blues have not given up after seeing enough encouragement from their past glories as well as their performance in the first leg.

Real are European heavyweights and have earned multiple comebacks to help them build their incredible record in the Champions League. They famously knocked City out in the 2022 semi-finals despite trailing by two goals going into the 180th minute, and even came from behind in the first leg of their play-off tie at the Etihad last season.

That reputation saw captain Silva asked on Monday if City needed to have a 'Real Madrid night' in order to pull off an unlikely comeback against Alvaro Arbeloa's side. Instead, Silva thinks they have plenty of their own experience to draw on.

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"I think we need to have a Manchester City night, we have also had many of those where many people didn’t believe in us," he said. "Real have had many memorable nights particularly in the last few years and we want to create an atmosphere of belief in the stadium and the pace we want to inject into it and not to suffer attacks, to score a goal. With one goal the atmosphere of the ground will change."

Real have included Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham in their squad for the second leg and will hope to have their stars recover in time from the respective injuries that kept them out of the first leg. That would only give the Spanish giants more confidence for the game, although City are prepared for anything as they look to achieve an outcome that most think is unlikely.

"Many people said Madrid didn’t have a chance without Bellingham, Rodrgyo, and Mbappe - and they beat us 3-0," added Bernardo. "What we need to focus on is our work, to be prepared to be us, to be Manchester City to create an atmosphere that is favourable so that all the people believe it is possible, it is going to be a difficult night but we are going to try and make it a joyous occasion."