Bernado Silva on City bid to overturn Real Madrid deficit
18/02/2025
uefa24
18/02/2025
uefa24
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00:00Hi, Bernardo, you've had quite a lot of different experiences against Real Madrid in the past,
00:22can you talk us through your memories of playing against them?
00:28My memories of playing against them, I would say it's a mix of emotions in terms of, I
00:35think we played four times against, well eight, nine now, but we knocked them out of the Champions
00:44League twice, they knocked us out of the Champions League twice, so now it's the fifth time that
00:49we go against each other.
00:52So yeah, when you get knocked out twice it's always not nice, especially the way that some
00:58of them were, I remember the first time that they knocked us out, it was in the last minutes
01:03here at, and the last time was in penalties, so it's always frustrating, but also some
01:09good memories, yeah, some good memories, so I'm sure it's going to be a very good game
01:15to play tomorrow and we're looking forward to that.
01:19Hi Bernardo, it was after the sporting game in November, you lost 4-1 and you said the
01:24team were in a dark place, how has that dark place been for the team and do you feel like
01:30you are out of it now?
01:32Well when a team is so successful as ours was in the last seven to eight seasons, you
01:44lose a few games, you're not used to it, you have a bad season, you have a bad few months,
01:49and we don't accept it, we don't accept the situation, we don't take well losing, not
01:54winning and winning and winning, so yeah at that time it was really frustrating because
02:00we came from I think two or three defeats in a row.
02:04I do think that the team is in a better moment now, still not perfect in terms of results
02:11especially, but yeah I think we're not in the same dark place, especially personally
02:21that I was feeling like we were in I would say November, was it?
02:26It was.
02:27Bernardo, we know that mentality will be incredibly important tomorrow, over this next 24 hours
02:36what sorts of conversations will you be having with your teammates, what conversations will
02:41you be having amongst yourselves right up until you walk out of the tunnel before a
02:46huge game to motivate you with the task in hand?
02:51Well I don't think my teammates need a lot of motivation to play this competition, to
02:56play against this opponent, it's going to be such a special game, but in terms of what
03:05this represents to us after so many bad results in the Premier League, obviously still having
03:10the opportunity to stay in this competition and knowing that we're not going to win the
03:15other most important competition of the season which is the Premier League, it's always a
03:20big motivation for us knowing that now we're in a worse place than we were when the tie
03:26started because we were playing at home when we lost, but still we believe that it's possible
03:31knowing that we play against a very good team and a team with a lot of special moments in
03:37this competition, but we believe that we can come here, we can try and maybe eventually
03:44put some problems to this Madrid team knowing, as I said, that they're a top side, yeah.
03:51Hi Bernardo, you face Real obviously a lot of times later on in the competition in recent
04:00years and we're used to seeing you in quarter-finals, semi-finals, finals, if you can't turn this
04:05one round, what would that mean and what would that say about this team and this season?
04:13Well it's very disappointing for sure, of course when the season started I wouldn't
04:20believe you if you told me that we were in this place in the Premier League, we were
04:27playing against Madrid in the play-offs, not as you said in the latter stages of quarter-finals,
04:33semi-finals, so yeah we put ourselves in this situation, so in a way we deserve to
04:40be in this complicated situation of having to play such a tough team in the play-offs
04:44because we finished 22nd if I'm not mistaken and definitely if things don't go our way
04:52it will be a lesson for the future, we still believe that things can go our way and we
04:57still have a chance tomorrow, but it's a lesson, it's a lesson for the future definitely, yeah.
05:05Hi Bernardo, Alex Ashmore here for SportyTV, you talk about how good Real Madrid are and
05:10then obviously you had that brilliant win against Newcastle at the weekend but perhaps
05:13it's not been the most consistent season for yourselves, what do you think are the keys
05:17to finding those moments where you have been so good, like against Newcastle coming into
05:21tomorrow night's game?
05:23Well first we have to understand that they're completely different games, different competitions
05:28that require different things in different moments, but yeah definitely coming off a
05:35win it's also nice for the confidence, it's also a boost for the whole team to come here
05:42and be a bit more relaxed, knowing that these type of games require different things than
05:52a league game, we will try to do our best to manage the game in the perfect way to try
05:59and create some problems for Madrid.
06:08So in these set of circumstances what is the right approach, what gives you the best chance
06:15of going through?
06:18Well the right approach, first is always believe, even though we know the task is difficult,
06:26always believe, always believe that it's possible, always believe no matter what happens in the
06:32first 20-30 minutes of the game, stay in the tie and then follow the plan.
06:42So we know how good they are in running, in countering, in putting you under pressure
06:49in this stadium and we need to deal with those situations.
06:57You mentioned the penalty shootout last season, how do you reflect on that, your penalty personally
07:03and would you take one if it goes to penalties tomorrow night, would you be keen to put your
07:07hand up and take one?
07:10Yeah definitely I would put my hand up, well you only can miss a penalty if you go and
07:16take it and yeah I took it down the middle, the keeper was waiting for it, it's frustrating
07:22but it is what it is, I have no regrets in terms of that and yeah if it has to go to
07:29penalties we'll try and do our best to take them as best as possible and to qualify for
07:35the next stage, it's as simple as that.