‘CITY ARE UNDER THE COSH NOW’
BERNARDO SILVA believes the bookies have got it wrong in making Manchester City favourites to win the Champions League.
City remain 5/1 shots to become kings of Europe for the first time, despite suffering a shock 2-1 defeat to Lyon in their opening group game.
And the Portuguese midfielder admits they are under real pressure, going into the clash at Hoffenheim on Tuesday night.
Silva said: “It was a mistake for people to say we are favourites to win the Champions League.
“Yes, we have a fantastic team, but, if you look into the past, we have never won this competition and other teams are much more experienced at this level.
“In the Champions League, you can have one bad game and you are finished. Last season, we had 30 bad minutes at Liverpool and we were out.”
City have never been beyond the semi-finals in club football’s top competition.
“Does it put us under extra pressure that people expect us to win? Maybe. But pressure is a good thing,” added Silva. “If people think that we are going to win the Champions League then that means they see us as a very good team.”
City produced one of their worst performances under Guardiola as Lyon took the Etihad by storm.
And Silva admitted: “We have already put some pressure on ourselves by losing our first game.
“It is never good to start any competition with a defeat, especially at home in front of your fans.
“We now have to be very efficient in the next games, starting against Hoffenheim, or we could have a big problem.”