Bernardo on FA Cup: We are going for it! | OneFootball

Bernardo Silva says winning the FA Cup would offer a terrific tonic for City after falling short in the Premier League and Champions League.

City are competing in a record-breaking seventh successive semi-final this Sunday, with a 16:30 (UK) kick-off against Nottingham Forest.

The Wembley winner would then face Crystal Palace or Aston Villa in the showpiece in May.

The Blues enjoyed Community Shield success to start the 2024/25 campaign but a succession of injuries to key players saw us fail to challenge for a fifth Premier League in a row and also meant we exited the Champions League at the Knockout Phase play-offs.

However, two more victories at the national stadium would see us lift the eighth FA Cup in our history.

For Bernardo, it would represent a third triumph in the world’s oldest cup competition and our effervescent midfielder says success this season would offer solace to the team after it failed to reach our usual high standards in other competitions.

“We know that this season the standards in the Premier League and the Champions League were not close to what we want them to be,” he said.

“The level that this squad maintained throughout the years was unbelievable and unfortunately, we couldn’t keep it going this season but in the FA Cup we have.

“We have an opportunity to help us not feel as disappointed and frustrated if we win the FA Cup.

“It is the only competition that we can win to make us a feel a little bit better this season.

“We don’t take things lightly and when we have a season like this one, we know how much it will mean to our fans to win this competition. When you know what winning feels like, you don’t want to feel any other way.

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“We know the history of the FA Cup and the importance - especially to the fans. It has a lot of meaning to us.

“We were able in the last seven years to win it twice, last year we went to the final again, we have reached seven FA Cup semi-finals in a row, so we are really proud of that.

“With us playing a bad final last year, we want to try and change that and go again for the Cup this year.”

Standing in our way on Sunday is Nottingham Forest, led by Nuno Espirito Santo.

They’re flying high in fourth spot in the Premier League as they eye entry into the Champions League, a competition they won back-to-back under the quite brilliant Brian Clough in 1979 and 1980.

Bernardo is expecting an extremely challenging encounter against this reborn Forest side.

“We lost to Forest in the last game that we played against them, so they are a very competitive team again,” he added.

“They are doing very well in the Premier League and probably going to qualify for the Champions League next season.

“It is going to be a very demanding game, but we really want to be in the final.

“They are a tricky team because it is not easy to break into their defence. They defend quite deep and then they have a lot of players that can counter and create chances out of nothing.

“We will have to be very careful with them but as I said, it is the only competition that we can win this season, so we are going all for it.”