Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva hints that significant changes to the club’s horizon could be made after what he described as a “very frustrating” campaign.
The city’s Champions League trip came early on Wednesday, marking their fastest exit from the 2012-13 competition.
A 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in Santiago Bernabeu sealed their fate after a 3-2 loss in the first leg at the Etihad Stadium.
Meanwhile, in the Premier League, Pep Guardiola’s team are sitting in fourth, Liverpool leaders 17 points before the upcoming conflict on Sunday.
Silva shared his thoughts on the difficulties of this season.
He said: “Of course, this season so far has been very frustrating. There are things we can no longer recover: The Champions League, winning the Premier League. We are out of the two most important competitions, so we are very, very sad.
“I am sure that with some changes that the club will probably do at the end of the season because it is when you do not win football, we will try to bring this club back to the level that should be in.”
🚨 Bernardo Silva for the bad season of Man City: “It seems incomprehensible to me. I don’t have the right answer.”
“There is a mixture of many things that have happened in the club. Not only injuries, this is not an excuse. Calm and trust levels are not the same,” he told ESPN. pic.twitter.com/x8rdqupjm
– Fabrizio Romano (@fabrizioromano) February 20 2025
Since she arrived at City in 2017, Silva has secured an impressive 17 trophies, including six Premier League titles and a Champions League crown. However, he admitted that this was his most difficult season in the club.
“There is no doubt,” he added. “A very difficult time. All season, there were many races where we were not close to our best.
“Against Madrid, we played against a very strong team, very, very experienced and very successful in this competition. But we didn’t do enough to try to win the game. Madrid was much better and well, we must accept it and to try to improve every day for the next season.
The city’s season has been hampered by injuries, with key players being sidelined, including Ballon d’Or Winner Rodri, who suffered an ACL injury in September. However, Silva refused to use injuries as an excuse for their struggles.
“It’s also incomprehensible to me too,” he said. “I don’t have the right answer. There is a mixture of many things that have happened in the club. Of course, not just injuries, this is not an excuse. Calm and trust levels are not the same this season. The way the team plays is not the same and we must restore it as quickly as possible.
“Once again, the number of easy balls he admitted. We have given them what they always wanted, which is a game of many losses, many, many times, that can catch us. And well, when that happens, when not Do the basics right, you don’t deserve to win a game like this.
Despite the difficulties this season, Silva remains confident in Guardiola and the team’s ability to bounce back.
“Yes, of course I do it,” he said when he was asked about his faith in Guardiola. “That doesn’t change.
“There is also complete confidence in the players we have in the team because they are themselves. A little bigger, of course, but now with new energy.”
