Bernardo Silva: Manchester City star 'didn’t sleep much' after missing penalty in UEFA Champions League exit

Bernardo Silva says he struggled to sleep for a few days after missing a penalty in Manchester City’s shoot-out defeat to Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

The Portugal midfielder faced criticism for an effort which was easily saved by Andriy Lunin, who barely had to move, but he recovered by scoring the winner in Saturday’s 1-0 FA Cup semi-final victory over Chelsea at Wembley.

That game was played just three days after City were knocked out of Europe and Silva admitted afterwards that it had been a draining week.

"It was a frustrating night for me," Silva said.

“Frustrating week for me personally, for the whole team, because we wanted to go after another historic season and we can still go for it, but it was a big disappointment to get knocked out of the Champions League.

"First night, I didn't sleep much, second night, you sleep a bit better, the third night you sleep almost the whole night.

"It's like a family, like brothers, the way we support each other when someone misses.

“The guys were unbelievable with me this week. We stick together and we go for it. Now we have the FA Cup and the Premier League to go for we're going to do our best to win those titles."

Silva also cleared up why he hit the ball straight at Lunin, saying he had “two options” but had seen the Ukrainian dive early for previous efforts.

“That's why I thought the middle was good because [in] moments of pressure the keepers, 99% of the time, they move, but he chose not to move and fair play to him, well done. It is what it is."”

Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola says he will give his players time off to rest before Thursday’s Premier League game at Brighton, having strongly criticised the schedule.

The City boss said it was “unacceptable” that City played just three days after their European exit, while Silva claimed organisers “don’t care” about the wellbeing of players.

“In the fridge for two days,” said Guardiola, when he was asked what his plans were for his squad ahead of the trip to the south coast.

“Don’t see each other, stay at home with your families. Try to rest, nothing special”.

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