MY ACCOUNT
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has given a glowing review of midfielder Bernardo Silva after his impressive performance in the win over Bayern Munich.
The Citizens cruised to a 3-0 victory in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals and will take a comfortable advantage to Germany in the return fixture.
Spainish maestro Rodri opened the scoring before the 30-minute mark, whipping a stunning strike into the top corner with his left foot.
But it was Silva’s goal that was the greatest spectacle of the night — his guided header doubled City’s advantage before Erling Haaland added a third.
The 28-year-old was given the nod over Riyad Mahrez, who had started in the last two Premier League matches and his contributions were of the highest class at the Etihad.
After the game, his manager could not help but rave about the midfielder, who had the beating of Alphonso Davies all night.
He said: “He is one of the best players I have trained in my life. He’s special.
“Bernardo Silva is a football player. What does it mean? He will play everywhere because he understands the game. Bernardo has the ability to read.
“But Bernardo is such an important player in these type of games. He can play holding midfield, false nine, he scores recently a lot of goals.
“He is a player if you say play in this position, he understands everything.”
Nothing left to give
It may have looked like a comfortable night for the hosts, but Guardiola insists that he is “emotionally destroyed” after such a tough match.
He said: “It was not comfortable. I’m emotionally destroyed. I’ve aged 10 more years today.
“It was such a demanding game. Now I have to relax, a day off for the guys, then prepare for Leicester.
“I knew exactly what we had to do. If you don’t perform really well, Bayern are able to score one, two or three.
“It’s an incredible result, but we have to play our game with a huge, huge personality over there.
“I know what this win means, but we’re going there to score goals and to try to win the game.”
