One of Pep Guardiola‘s key players. Portuguese midfielder Bernardo Silva discussed the difficult tie against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals after a vital 2-1 Premier League win over Leeds United.
When asked about the weight of the Real Madrid crest and shirt, the Portuguese player was completely honest in order to put an end to the supposed ‘Real Madrid mystique’ in the Champions League.
“It’s not about the crest, it’s never about the crest. If Real Madrid didn’t have Modric, Kroos, Vinicius, Benzema… they wouldn’t win anything, because the shirt doesn’t do it on its own,” Silva explained.
“We have a lot of respect for them, yes, but no fear – why should we be afraid of them?
“We would be stupid not to respect them, but we have the objective of eliminating them knowing that we lost last year in difficult circumstances. This time we will try to make it different,” he said.
City’s treble hunt
Motivated by the possibility of becoming the second English club to win the treble, Pep Guardiola‘s men will be looking to build on an unstoppable winning streak (15 wins in the last 16 games) to reach their second ever Champions League final.
“We will try to maintain the momentum we have built up over two months,” he concluded.
“We need to go in very confident of beating them, knowing that they won the Champions League last season for a reason.”