Manchester City are out of their ‘dark place’ despite Champions League exit insists Bernardo Silva | OneFootball

Bernardo Silva believes that Manchester City are now out of the ‘dark place’ that he felt the squad was in earlier on in the campaign, speaking during a recent press conference.

That feeling comes despite the Premier League champions exiting the UEFA Champions League before the commencement of the last-16 phase for the first time since the Roberto Mancini era and 2012/13 season.

City succumbed to a flat and lethargic 3-1 defeat on the night to Real Madrid in the second-leg of their last-16 play-off meeting, after throwing away a 2-1 lead in the first-leg to goals from Brahim Diaz and Jude Bellingham making it a 6-3 aggregate defeat.

The defeat in the Spanish capital brought a close to a massively disappointing European campaign as a whole for Manchester City and their players, after the newly-formed league phase brought a string of damning results.

The 4-1 defeat to Sporting CP came at a rough time for the club during the opening weeks of their ongoing poor run of form, at which point Bernardo Silva suggested that the club as a whole was in a “dark place”.

Speaking during a new press conference, the Portugal international midfielder insisted upon the bad feeling within the dressing room at Manchester City amid their ongoing poor form and lack of consistency when it comes to performance levels.

“When a team is so successful as Manchester City in the last seven, eight seasons, you lose a few games, you’re not used to it,” the Portugal international told reporters.

“You have a bad season, a bad few months, and we don’t accept it! We don’t take well losing, and not winning, and winning, and winning.”

Following recent results, it is no longer the case that City are in a ‘dark place’ in the 30-year-old’s view, as he said this week, “I think we’re not in the same dark place, especially personally, like we were in November.”

Bernardo Silva and Manchester City will need to find it within themselves to go again this weekend as they return from Spain to take on Liverpool in the Premier League, hoping to further cement their position in the top-four with a win.

Arne Slot’s side are on the hunt for Premier League title success and find themselves largely in a head-to-head battle with Arsenal at the summit of the English top-flight table, with Nottingham Forest in third but six points adrift of the Gunners and 14 from the Anfield side.