Bernardo Silva confident of claiming Champions League revenge over Real Madrid
Pep Guardiola’s side reached the last four for a third successive year as they weathered a storm away to Bayern Munich.
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Your support makes all the difference.Bernardo Silva spoke confidently of claiming revenge over Real Madrid after Manchester City booked a Champions League semi-final rematch against the Spanish giants.
City reached the last four for a third successive year as they weathered a storm to claim a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their quarter-final against Bayern Munich on Wednesday and progress 4-1 on aggregate.
Erling Haaland put the result beyond doubt when, having earlier missed a penalty, he struck in the 57th minute at the Allianz Arena before Joshua Kimmich claimed a late reply for the Germans from the spot.
City missed out on a place in the final when they were beaten by Real in dramatic circumstances at the Bernabeu Stadium last season and Silva now wants to put the record straight.
Asked about the chance of revenge, the City midfielder told BT Sport: “Hopefully, yes. We will go for it definitely.
“We always go for it but we feel the team is very, very confident at the minute. I think we are going through.”
City did most of the damage in their quarter-final with their 3-0 win in the first leg but Bayern started with the belief they could turn the tie around.
I'm so happy – three years in a row in the semi-finals of the Champions League against an incredible team
They spurned numerous chances in the first half before Haaland’s strike eventually killed off their hopes.
Manager Pep Guardiola said: “I’m so happy – three years in a row in the semi-finals of the Champions League against an incredible team.
“But we struggled in the first half and 4-1 doesn’t show the two games. Fortunately, they missed their chances.
“We defended well and in the second half we were much better. The only regret is we didn’t have more sequences of passes. You have to have more passes against a team of that quality.
“But apart from that, congratulations to all at Manchester City and thank you to all our fans who came to Munich.”
Haaland’s goal was his 48th of an extraordinary season.
Guardiola said: “Erling is a threat. We know that. He showed personality for the penalty. He missed it but it doesn’t matter.
“He is having a good season and finishing really good.”
Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel was sent off late in the game after letting his frustrations get the better of him and he later rated referee Clement Turpin as “grade E”.
However, he was more positive about his own players.
He said: “I don’t think the scoreline reflects the tie but there was a difference in self-confidence and form.
“For the few chances we conceded in both matches, we were punished.
“I am very satisfied with the style of our play. We played against the most in-form team in all of Europe and met them eye to eye.”