- Bernardo Silva says Man City have sights on ‘legacy’ of winning the treble again
- He revealed how the team have kept motivation to keep fighting for honours
- Arsenal must recover in Munich – they can’t carry the fear from Villa loss into Champions League showdown – Listen to the It’s All Kicking Off podcast
Bernardo Silva admits that Manchester City suffered a Champions League hangover – but are now using the prospect of winning consecutive Trebles as an inspiration.
City continue the defence of their European crown in Wednesday’s quarter-final second leg with old foes Real Madrid having jumped to the top of the Premier League at the weekend.
Silva insisted that he is not contemplating lifting the lot again yet did reveal that the historical impact of repeating the feat is not lost on Pep Guardiola’s squad.
But the 29-year-old warned that a bad week – against Real, Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final and then a tough trip to Brighton – could prematurely end City’s season.
‘I’m not surprised no because this group has proven throughout the years that we are capable of getting to the final month of the season fighting for all the competitions,’ Silva said.
Bernardo Silva says Man City are eager to ‘create a legacy’ as they bid to win the treble again
He revealed how City players keep their motivation after clean sweep of trophies last year
‘Now it is where all the tough things start because it is not easy. That is why only two teams won the Treble in English football because it is not easy.
‘We are very happy to be in a position where we can fight for all of them, knowing it is not easy, our opponents are really good and it is another big challenge for us.
‘Obviously there is inspiration and motivation, we know how well this team has done and we want to create that legacy. To do another Premier League, six in seven years and four in a row, and we want to win the Champions League to do two in a row.
‘I think that only Madrid did it, three in a row, but no one else won four consecutive Premier Leagues and if we win two Trebles in a row that would be legacy.
‘A team that won a treble comes back on a bit of a hangover, to have that hunger to go every three days it is not easy.’
Real arrive in Manchester looking for revenge following last season’s 4-0 hammering at the Etihad Stadium, after which Federico Valverde labelled it the hardest stadium he has ever played in.
‘In one week we could be out of all the competitions,’ Silva added. ‘We are fighting for it. We still have the feeling that at home we are very strong with our people.
The Portuguese star opened the scoring against Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final
‘After what happened the season before when we were knocked out by Real at the Bernabeu, we wanted to put things right and that performance was also a bit of an apology to our fans for what happened. We felt we owed them another chance to win the competition.
‘Now it is a different game, different teams, we have our signings and players that left. Let’s see but we are very confident because we play at home against the kings of the competition.’
