The Herald (South Africa)

Monaco will rely on rising star Silva

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MONACO lose some of their best players every season but keep attracting top youngsters like Bernardo Silva, who they will be relying on when they visit Manchester City in their Champions League last- 16, first-leg clash tonight.

The Portugal offensive midfielder, 22, has been nicknamed “Messizinho” (the Little Messi) by teammate Joao Moutinho, and, according to media reports, Manchester United and Chelsea have already tried to secure his services for next season.

Silva, who joined the principali­ty club from Benfica in 2014, has amazing dribbling skills and the excellent vision that could make him an oldschool playmaker, although he has developed a roaming role and likes to push wide.

“When Bernardo arrived, I straight away said he was a good player but that he needed to keep working,” Moutinho said.

“And that’s what he’s done this year. He had two fine seasons, but this year he’s really been a revelation.

“Messi, Eusebio, Cristiano Ronaldo, Maradona, Pele ... They’re players who are and will remain in football history. I hope and believe that Bernardo has the quality to get close to that level.”

With six goals and five assists in 25 Ligue 1 appearance­s, Silva has been instrument­al in Monaco’s rise to the top of the table in a team who have scored 76 goals in 26 matches.

City, on the other hand, have conceded 29 in 25 Premier League games.

Monaco geared up for the clash with a disappoint­ing 1-1 draw at lowly Bastia in Ligue 1 on Friday, but City have no reason for over-confidence after being held to a 0-0 stalemate at second-tier Huddersfie­ld Town in the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen will hope to put their erratic Bundesliga form behind them and adopt their most determined European game face when they host Atletico Madrid in the Champions League tonight.

The Germans have lost nine times in their domestic campaign, dropping to eighth in the table.

But they can take comfort from an unbeaten 10-match streak at home in Europe as they seek to advance past this knockout stage for the first time.

Leverkusen did reach the Champions League final in 2002 where they lost to Real Madrid, but at the time there was no round of 16, only two group stages with the quarterfin­als following after that.

They now hope their European form will carry them past the Spanish club that reached the final in two of the last three seasons.

“Why not win against them?” Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno asked.

“If we show our Champions League face, then everything is possible.

“You can see the team really wants it.

“We are fighting, we are fighting for each other and that was not necessaril­y the case a couple of weeks ago.”

Leno has every right to feel confident with Leverkusen having won their last two league matches, including Friday’s 3-1 victory at Augsburg, to boost their confidence and offer coach Roger Schmidt some respite.

Karim Bellarabi, who scored the Bundesliga’s 50 000th goal on Friday, said: ”We are confident and want to step on the gas on Tuesday.” . – Reuters

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