Manchester City captain admits 'everything looks bleak', Guardiola praises Valverde

Captain Bernardo Silva acknowledges Manchester City's chances of progressing in the Champions League 2025-26 are becoming "very bleak" after a heavy defeat to Real Madrid in the first leg of the round of 16.

At the Bernabeu Stadium, Manchester City lost 0-3 following a brilliant performance by Federico Valverde, who scored a hat-trick, giving Real Madrid a significant advantage ahead of the return leg at the Etihad next week.

After the match, Bernardo Silva admitted this score makes Manchester City's chances of turning the situation around extremely difficult. "With a 0-3 score, everything becomes much harder," Silva said. "Right now the feeling is terrible, really bleak. But tomorrow will be a new day, and certainly next week we will still enter the match believing we have a chance."

The Portuguese midfielder believes Manchester City players let emotions affect the game after conceding the first goal. "The atmosphere here is something we couldn't control. I think the team let emotions change the match. We felt comfortable, found space, but after conceding the first goal, we completely lost control, especially in transition phases and second balls."

Silva also admitted the Bernabeu always presents a tough challenge: "This is a very difficult stadium. We are also accustomed to stadiums like Anfield or St James' Park. Such matches are lessons for the team to mature."

Meanwhile, coach Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City did not play badly enough to suffer such a heavy score. "The result is clear, but there are still 90 minutes left," Guardiola said after the match. "I feel we didn't play badly enough to lose 0-3. They had three chances in the first half and scored all three. Real Madrid is always very dangerous in transition moments."

The Spanish coach stated his team repeatedly approached the opponent's goal, especially in the second half, but lacked the decisive final pass.

"We repeatedly brought the ball down near the byline and had four, five players in the penalty area. The issue was just one final pass being good enough. If we had scored a goal, everything would have been different. We lacked that decisive moment," he said.

The match witnessed an explosive performance by midfielder Federico Valverde, who scored a hat-trick, helping Real Madrid secure a major advantage before the return leg. Guardiola praised the Uruguayan star: "Valverde is an excellent player. He can play various roles and scored beautiful goals. Real Madrid deserved the win. They are an extremely talented team and stopped many of our transitions."

Coach Pep Guardiola also dismissed the opinion that he experimented too much tactically by starting three wingers: Jérémy Doku, Savinho, and Antoine Semenyo. He stated Manchester City will quickly focus on upcoming matches. "Now we will go to London to face West Ham United, then next week, with the support of our fans, we will try our best."