‘SHIRTS DON’T WIN TROPHIES ...PLAYERS DO’
BERNARDO SILVA insists Manchester City will be going to the Bernabeu with no fear.
Pep Guardiola’s Treblechasers face Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals on Tuesday night – 12 months after a late rally by the Spaniards sent City crashing out at the same stage.
Winning the Champions League is the only box left for City to tick after dominating the Premier League.
And Silva said: “Madrid are the biggest team in Europe – and probably historically, too, because they won this competition the most.
“We will try to be ready to beat them this time, knowing that’s a tough team to beat.
“But it’s not about the badge, it’s never about the badge.
“It’s about the players who are on the pitch.
“Madrid win a lot of times because they have the best managers and the best players.
“If they didn’t have Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Vinicius Jnr, Karim Benzema – I could say everyone – then they wouldn’t win anything because the shirts and the badge don’t win things.
“But we also have a top manager and top players to compete against them and we are going to try our best.
“There is no fear at all. There is a lot of respect. Everyone has to respect a team like Real Madrid.
“We would be stupid if we didn’t respect them.”
Guardiola has not lifted the European crown since he led Barcelona to their second triumph in two seasons in 2011.
Both the Catalan manager and City have suffered a catalogue of near-misses – including a shock defeat to Chelsea in the 2021 final.
Last year, they dominated Madrid for 175 minutes over two legs only to then concede two late goals before being eliminated in extra time.
Guardiola refuses to have his Etihad reign defined by success in Europe. But Silva admitted: “It’s definitely a competition that we want – because it’s the only one that we haven’t won yet.
“So we are not going to lie and say we don’t want it. Of course, we want it.
“We know how tough the task is because we play not only against the best teams in England, but against the best teams in Europe.
“Madrid is always a tough opponent in the Champions League.
“But we are going to try to keep up this momentum we have built in the last one or two months and we will arrive in that game confident and ready.
“Madrid won the Champions League last season for a reason.
“This season they have already beaten Liverpool and Chelsea, so it’s not going to be an easy task.
“But we have a goal of wanting to beat them this time, knowing that last year we lost in very tough circumstances.
“Manchester City need to win the Champions League. It would be a nice picture, imagining ourselves with the cup at the end of the season.”
We would be stupid not to respect Real, but there is no fear